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Zoo music lineup includes Joan Baez, Cheap Trick, Brian Wilson

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baez portrait
Photo by Dana Tynan
Joan Baez

If summer ever comes, many of us will head outdoors for live music, and one of the best places to go is the Minnesota Zoo. Each year, the Music in the Zoo series brings top artists to the open-air Weesner Family Amphitheater, tucked between the tigers and the caribou. (There’s nothing like hearing a tiger growl as you’re walking down the path to the venue. It creates, shall we say, a whole new level of anticipation.) A few highlights: Joan Baez on June 6, British blues growler James Hunter on June 23, Cheap Trick on July 6, Trombone Shorty and Mavis Staples on July 21, Brian Wilson on July 27, John Hiatt and Steve Earle on August 1, Elvin Bishop on August 28. See the current lineup here, with more shows to be added. Packages on sale Friday, April 19, singles Saturday, April 27 at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis and Ticketmaster.

We have reason to hope the SPCO will play the rest of its season; management and musicians are still picking at details (mainly that pesky media agreement), but at least they’re talking. Not so at the Minnesota Orchestra. A front-page headline in the print edition of Saturday’s Strib said it all: “No music, no talks, no season.” Graydon Royce reports that Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak “appears less interested in talking now,” and that orchestra president and CEO Michael Henson “suspects the union may be delaying negotiations to use the reopening of Orchestra Hall as leverage.” The original Orchestra Hall opened in 1974 to fanfare and festivities under Stanislaw Skrowaczewski’s baton. Will the reopening in July (or whenever) be grim? While we applaud Rybak for hosting the orchestra’s Grammy celebration concert on Feb. 1, we wish he’d put his big boots on, as St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman did with the SPCO.

Meanwhile, we learned Monday that Skrowaczewski will return to conduct the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra in a concert of Mozart and Bruckner on Thursday, April 25, at the O’Shaughnessy. For the maestro, it’s a double homecoming; the O’Shaughnessy for several years hosted weekly St. Paul performances by the Minnesota Orchestra, led by him. 7:30 p.m. Tickets on sale at noon today in person at the O’Shaughnessy ticket office, by phone (61-690-6700), or online.

There’s another Minnesota hopeful on “The Voice.” After Nicholas David finished third last season, Eden Prairie’s Mark Andrew wowed the judges with a soulful cover of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Maroon 5’s Adam Levine pushed the button first. Andrew will be on Shakira’s team.

April is National Poetry Month.Sign up for Poem-A-Day and find a new poem in your inbox every morning. Go here to see what’s happening with poetry in Minnesota. Read this lovely poem by Minnesotan James Wright. If you’re in St. Joseph tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 3), hear Minnesota poet laureate Joyce Sutphen read at the College of Saint Benedict. 7 p.m., free. FMI.

April is also Jazz Appreciation Month. Jazz is best heard live, and there are many places in the Twin Cities to hear it. The Artists’ Quarter in St. Paul presents live jazz almost every night of the week. On Thursday, trumpeter John Raymond, who now lives in NYC, joins the new trio Triosé (guitarist Vincent Rose, bassist Jeremy Boettcher, drummer Adrian Suarez) for a live recording. 9 p.m., $5. The Dakota in Minneapolis, while no longer strictly a jazz club, still brings in top performers (including Chick Corea, who sold out two sets last night). Tonight and tomorrow: singer Madeleine Peyroux, whose latest release, “The Blue Room,” is currently the #1 traditional jazz record in the U.S. “The Blue Room” is Peyroux’s nod to Ray Charles’ “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music;” four of the songs (including “I Can’t Stop Loving You”) are from that groundbreaking album. Add strings and it’s a gutsy, gorgeous outing. FMI and tickets.

zorn portrait
Photo by Scott Irvine
John Zorn

What’s ambitious, kind of crazy, and potentially epic? “John Zorn @ 60,” this Saturday at the Walker. Every so often, the Walker invites us to dive head first into the work of an important if somewhat thorny artist. They did this last year with “The Sound of Surprise: A Vijay Iyer Mini-Festival,” two jam-packed nights of music by one of today’s most important young jazz pianists, and the year before with “King for Two Days,” even more jam-packed nights of drummer Dave King with various bands. These events hark back to the days when musicians had residencies at jazz clubs and one could see and hear them several times, getting some sense of their depth and scope. Those days are mostly gone, making these Walker events especially vital. John Zorn – the protean avant-garde composer, record producer and multi-instrumentalist – couldn’t or wouldn’t spend two days here, so he’s squeezing an impossible number of events into just one day. The Zorn-a-thon begins at 3 p.m. with “Zorn of Plenty,” a free conversation in the Walker Cinema with senior curator Philip Bither. Program I: Game Pieces (4 p.m.) includes the Book of Heads  (etudes for solo guitar, featuring Marc Ribot), Hockey (an early work that has been compared to Jack Benny and Buster Keaton), and Cobra (improvisation directed by cue cards). Program II: Masada (7 p.m.) features Erik Friedlander solo, the Masada String Trio (classical-chamber jazz), and Bar Kokhba (small group). Program III: New Projects (10 p.m.) is Nova Express (inspired by William Burroughs, with John Medeski on keyboards) and The Concealed (Nova Express + The Dreamers, yet another Zorn group). After which Zorn will cross the street to St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral and play a free solo concert on the pipe organ at midnight. Programs I-III are in the McGuire Theater and tickets are very limited (they’re starting to turn up on Craigslist). Call the box office at 612-385-7600.

Want to work in the arts and help support the arts in Minnesota? The McKnight Foundation in downtown Minneapolis is looking for a Program Officer – Arts. Learn more here. Applications accepted through May 6.

interior room photo
Courtesy of the American Craft Council
Greg Walsh, Walsh Design Group – Owner
(Downtown Minneapolis). Collaborating artists:
Donna D'Aquino, metal artist (Bethel, Maine),
Carol Sobieniak, fiber artist (Boulder, CO),
Scott McGlasson, furniture artist
(Minneapolis, MN)

New at this year’s American Craft Council show: “Make Room: Local interior designers create craft-inspired environments.” Maybe this has happened to you: You’re at a craft show, you see a piece you love, but you haven’t a clue what to do with it. Ten room settings created by Twin Cities interior designers will show how to live with fine craft. Also new: a private wholesale show on Friday morning. April 19-21 at the St. Paul RiverCentre.

You’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, you’ll jump out of your chair, and you’ll leave happy. Now that’s a night at the theater. Ira Levin’s suspense thriller “Deathtrap” is an oldie-but-goodie; it ran for four years (1,809 performances) on Broadway starting in 1978, was made into a movie starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve, and became a summer stock and community theater staple. It opened at the Jungle this weekend with a bang. Steve Hendrickson stars as a fading playwright desperate for a hit, Michael Booth is a young man who may have written one, Cheryl Willis is Hendrickson’s wife, Terry Hempleman his lawyer, the always splendid Claudia Wilkens is a dotty psychic who lives nearby, and there’s a sixth character not listed in the cast: a wall of weapons – guns, daggers, axes, crossbows – just itching to be used. It’s a play within a play, sharply written, cleverly constructed, with more plot twists than a Twizzler. Directed by Bain Boehlke. Through May 19. FMI and tickets.

Our picks through Thursday

Opens tonight at the Orpheum: “Flashdance – The Musical.” Has it really been 30 years since the movie burned Jennifer Beals’ bare shoulder onto a generation’s retinas? Like the movie, the musical is all about hot dancing and hit songs. Along with Oscar-winner “Flashdance – What a Feeling” and others we know – “Maniac,” “Gloria,” “Manhunt” – it features 16 new songs. Student/educator rush is available for all performances. FMI and tickets.

flashdance the musical
Photo by Kyle Froman
Like the movie, Flashdance the musical is all about hot dancing and hit songs.

Opens tonight at the Nomad: A solo exhibition by artist Evan Ishmael, who paints with smoke. Hosted by Altered Esthetics. Opening reception 6-9 p.m., with the artist present.

Thursday at the St. Paul JCC: “Me La Amargates Tu.” Sephardic baroque music by the Netherlands-based early-music ensemble. Performed on recorders, Baroque harp, viola da gamba, guitar and percussion, led by vocalist Estaban Manzano. 7 p.m., free. Photo ID required for entry.

Thursday-Sunday, April 4-7, at MCAD: The 5th Annual Italian Film Festival. Remember when every foreign film that came to the U.S. was either French or Italian? Why did Italian films go out of fashion? Mille grazie to the Italian Cultural Center, the Consulate General of Italy (in Chicago), and MCAD for caring and bringing a selection of contemporary Italian films to Minnesota each year. Directors Nicollò Bruno and Alessandro Comodin will be here to discuss their work and lead a workshop. Here’s the complete line-up, with trailers and links to tickets.

Opens Thursday at Park Square:“To Kill a Mockingbird.” Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-prize winning classic, adapted by Christopher Sergei and directed by David Mann, returns for eight shows only. It sold out in 2011, and many members of that cast are back, including Fred Wagner (Atticus), Warren C. Bowles (Rev. Sykes), and KBEM’s Ed Jones (Heck Tate). Olivia Coon will make her Park Square debut as Scout; Thomasina Petrus will appear as Calpurnia. Through April 14. FMI and tickets.

Thursday at the Hennepin County Library: Talk of the Stacks with Andrei Codrescu. The poet, essayist, novelist, screenwriter, raconteur and NPR personality presents his new collection from Coffee House Press, “So Recently Rent a World.” 7 p.m., free. Doors at 6:15 p.m. 300 Nicollet Mall, Pohlad Hall.


Gillette leaving Fringe Fest; Lanesboro named top-12 arts town

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gillette portrait
Robin Gillette

After seven years as executive director of the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Robin Gillette is stepping down. During her tenure, attendance rose by 23 percent, artists were paid 34 percent more, individual donors increased 43 percent, Fringe established a cash reserve of over $100,000, and 5,095 performances of 979 productions took place. Gillette will stay on through this year’s 20th anniversary festival (Aug. 1-11). 

The clock is ticking loudly on the SPCO as the management-imposed deadline for reaching agreement on the contract dispute approaches. In a statement issued March 22, acting president Dobson West wrote, “We need to reach an agreement … by April 8 or we will be forced to cancel the rest of the season.” No agreement had been reached by Thursday night, but there was we said/they said back-and-forth earlier in the week, with each side claiming the other doesn’t understand. The musicians have accepted the economic terms and the reduction of full-time positions in the orchestra; the remaining problems have to do with job security and media. On Wednesday, management suggested a meeting “to make sure we all understand what is and is not in our proposal.” Responding through their attorney, the musicians declined, stating “the meeting you proposed will serve no purpose.” If anything happens between now and 5 p.m. Monday, we’ll let you know.

Planning a trip to Lanesboro? Artplace, a collaboration of 13 leading national and regional foundations (and six big banks) just named the scenic Minnesota town one of the Top Twelve Small-Town ArtPlaces for 2013. The towns were chosen because they have the highest concentrations of arts nonprofits, core arts-oriented business, and workers in creative occupations among smaller towns in the United States. The others are (in alpha order by state) Eureka Springs, Ark.; Crested  Butte, Colo.; Ketchum, Idaho; Vineyard Haven, Mass.; Boothbay Harbor, Maine; Highlands, N.C.; Taos, N.M.; Marfa, Texas; Stowe, Vt.; Eastsound, Wash.; and Saratoga, Wyo.

Add this to your Things-to-Do-in-the-Twin-Cities list: a Summit Avenue Walking Tour. Every weekend from May through September, Minnesota Historical Society guides lead 90-minute strolls through the stately Summit Avenue neighborhood lined with Gilded Age mansions. Starting at the James J. Hill House, ending at Cathedral of St. Paul across the street, the tour covers 1.5 miles. FMI.

National Arts Advocacy Day is next Tuesday, April 9. If you can’t go to D.C., you can write to your members of Congress. Americans for the Arts has made it easy by preparing an email for you to send. The letter calls for funding the NEA at $155 million, funding the Arts in Education program at $30 million, protecting the charitable tax deduction, and other actions that support the arts. If you don’t like everything the letter says, or you want to add your own words, you can make changes.

The State Fair is adding pop-up entertainment to its 2013 lineup, and performing artists of all kinds (theater, dance, choral, more) are invited to apply. For four consecutive days during the fair, you’ll give four performances per day of up to 10 minutes each. We can’t help thinking that stilt walkers and pogo stick jumpers will get preference. FMI and link to RFP.

For emerging composers and other creative music-makers: The Jerome Fund for New Music is offering grants of up to $7,000 to create a new work and $1,500 to help make it happen. You don’t have to “self-identify as a ‘composer’ ” (God forbid), but you do have to be at an early stage in your career, under-recognized, and a resident of Minnesota or the five boroughs of New York City. “JFund welcomes applications from the whole range of musical paths and is committed to supporting a diverse pool of artists.” Improvisers, this is for you. Application deadline Friday, Aug. 16. FMI.

For writers: two terrific learning opportunities at the Loft. On the weekend of April 27-28, the Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Writing Conference will feature keynotes William Kent Krueger (Cork O’Connor mystery series) and Marcus Sakey (“The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes”), plus Erin HartEllen Hart, Mary Logue and other favorites.  On May 18-19, the Children’s and Young Adult Literature Conference features Caldecott winner David Small, author Sarah Stewart, and Donna Bray of Balzer & Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins and former editorial director of Hyperion Books for Children. Also on hand: William Alexander, Kelly Barnhill, Georgia Greeley and other award-winning writers. Click the links FMI.

Jazz Appreciation Month continues. Here’s one writer’s list (OK, mine) of recommended events from now through April 30. 

Our picks for the weekend

Opening tonight (Friday, April 5) at Altered Esthetics“Comic Artists at the Opera.” For the past three years, members of the Black Hat Collective have attended the final full dress rehearsal of each Minnesota Opera production with booklights, tablets and art materials in hand, drawing what they see in comic book/graphic novel style(s). We love this idea and congratulate the Minnesota Opera for letting it happen. A collection of works, made on location at the Ordway, are on display through April 25. Opening reception 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.

hops photo
Courtesy of Altered Esthetics
Jamie Schumacher's "Hoptastic," part of the “Brewers’ Craft” show.

At the same time, in the same placeyou can get a glimpse into beer culture with “Brewers’ Craft,” a show of photographs, paintings, prints, and watercolors celebrating all things beer. Craft beer is the new wine (some say), and it seems that new breweries and taprooms are opening every day in Minneapolis (including Indeed Brewing Co., located down the street from AE). Will beer be served? We hope so. Through April 5. Opening reception 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Opening tonight at Carleton College’s Perlman Teaching Museum“Alice and Wonderland.” Lewis Carroll’s story about the little girl who tumbles down the rabbit hole has inspired artists since its first publication in 1865. This show features works by four artists – three from Minnesota, one from South Africa – who visit Wonderland through photography, painting, computer technology, drawing, and “magic mushrooms.” The artists include Kate Casanova, Alexa Horochowski, John Largaespada, and Wilma Cruise. Through April 28. Opening reception (with remarks by Casanova and Largaespada) 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m. FMI.

khmer dance
Courtesy of Northrop Dance/John Shapiro
Khmer Arts Ensemble's “A Bend in the River.”

Tonight at the State TheatreKhmer Arts Ensemble“A Bend in the River.” The Cambodian dance troupe makes its Minnesota debut with the world premiere of a new work featuring 15 dancers, two oversized crocodile puppets, and eight instrumentalists and singers. Choreographer and director Sophiline Cheam Shapiro is a National Heritage Fellow and McKnight International Fellow. As a child, she survived the Khmer Rouge (her father and two brothers did not), during which 90 percent of Cambodia’s artists and scholars were lost; she is committed to reviving the traditions of Cambodian dance. Presented by Northrop Dance, this promises to be magical. 8 p.m. Free performance preview at nearby Solera, 6:45. FMI and tickets

Tonight and tomorrow at the Artists’ Quarter: “Billy Holloman: The Legend Returns.” For 10 years, Holloman led the Tuesday Night Band and Organ Night at the AQ, presiding over the Hammond B-3. He left the Twin Cities in 2004 and fans are probably lining up already to see him. A lot of people are talking about this show. 9 p.m., $15 at the door.

Tonight and tomorrow at the Ted Mann“It Gets Amazing,” the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus spring concert. TCGMC revisits Tomie de Paola’s “Oliver Button Is a Sissy” and premieres “Testimony,” a new work by Stephen Schwartz (“Wicked,” “Godspell”) composed for the GLBT choral movement and based on texts from the It Gets Better Project. Polar explorer Ann Bancroft will narrate “Oliver Button.” FMI and tickets.

artcrank photo
Courtesy of ARTCRANK
ARTCRANK: Bikes, beer and posters.

Saturday at the Grain Belt StudiosARTCRANK Bike Art Party. Minneapolis has more bikes, more bikers, and more bike paths than ever. (Strib columnist Jon Tevlin just promised to ride his bike every day for the month of April.) We also love art, craft beers (see above), and parties, so it’s no surprise that the annual ARTCRANK event is a giant blowout. Last year, more than 4,000 people came; this year, who knows? Buy original, limited-edition, signed and numbered bike-themed posters from 45 local artists (all $40), have your bike valet-parked for free, take home a pint glass or two. Proceeds benefit Springboard for the Arts and its efforts to provide medical care to uninsured Twin Cities artists and their families. 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., 79 Thirteenth Ave. NE.  Post-party, the show moves to One on One Bicycle Studio in the warehouse district from April 11 to May 4.

Saturday and Sunday at the Mall of AmericaMinnesota Monthly hosts its fifth annual local Chef Challenge. Eight chefs — including Doug Flicker (Piccolo), JD Fratzke (The Strip Club), Sameh Wadi (Saffron) and Sarah Master (Barbette) — will compete in elimination tests on Saturday. The two left standing will duke it out on Sunday. It’s our own “Top Chef,” minus the ominous knife sounds and (sadly) Padma Lakshmi, although our judges will include Mariel Hemingway. Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the rotunda. FMI.

Saturday and Sunday: “Awake the Voice!” An all-Bach program by the Minnesota Chorale and instrumentalists from the Minnesota Bach Ensemble, led by Kathy Saltzman Romey. With “Wachet auf” (“Sleepers Awake”) and two motets for double choir. 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Nativity Catholic Church in St. Paul, 3 p.m. Sunday at Wayzata Community ChurchFMI and tickets.

Sunday at the DakotaMax Raabe and Palast Orchester. Think “Cabaret” (the movie), a 12-piece band in evening dress, and a tall, thin, elegantly attired, blonde baritone crooning Cole Porter, George Gershwin, romantic ballads and parodies of Britney Spears. This concert was originally booked at the Convention Center as part of the Orchestra Hall season. Here’s your chance to see it in a smaller room, with a cocktail. Nostalgic, classy, witty and entertaining. Watch a videoRead Mordecai Specktor’s interview. 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. FMI and tickets.

SPCO deadline comes and goes, meetings all around

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Hope is fading that the SPCO contract dispute will be resolved in time to salvage what’s left of the 2012-13 season– and ensure there will be a 2013-14 season. The musicians rejected management’s latest offer, made Friday, because “all five issues Saint Paul Mayor Chris Coleman thought he helped resolve late last week still remain unresolved.” The issues include media rights, compensation, whether rehearsals can be recorded and the recordings used in disciplinary proceedings, and the artistic review process. In a letter to Mayor Coleman on Saturday, the musicians claimed that “the Society’s letter sent to you on April 5th has much different content than the actual document sent to us by the Society.” Coleman thinks enough is enough; it’s time to sign. The board is set to meet this afternoon to discuss its options, MPR reported this morning; musicians are reportedly having discussions as well. Update: In late morning the musicians sent a letter to board chair/interim president Dobson West laying out what it would take for them to take a vote of their members.

Meanwhile, the Ordway has begun work on the new 1,100-seat concert hall that will replace the old 300-seat McKnight Theatre. One of the planned uses for the new hall is as the primary home of the SPCO. The SPCO is a member of the Arts Partnership, a group of four organizations that use the Ordway; the others are the Minnesota Opera, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, and the Schubert Club. The new hall is expected to open in mid-2015. The Ordway will bid farewell to the old McKnight on Sunday, April 28, at a combined performance and fundraiser called “The Night of a Million Stars.” Among the dozens of artists scheduled to appear (so far) are Christina Baldwin, Dieter Bierbrauer, Dennis Curley, Monica Heuser, Tonia Hughes and T. Mychael Rambo. FMI and tickets.

On Friday, the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra testified to Minnesota legislators that they are considering applying for legacy funds for the 2013-14 season. In February, state representative Phyllis Kahn (DFL-Minneapolis) suggested that legacy funds be reallocated to pay for more concerts by locked-out musicians from both the Minnesota Orchestra and the SPCO. Kahn is also serving on an exploratory committee formed by the citizens’ group Save Our SPCO to examine the feasibility of forming a new chamber orchestra society.

awardees photo
Courtesy of the Ordway
2012 Sally Award winners: Noël Raymond, Faye M. Price, David J. Fraher, Anthony Caponi, Hillcrest Community School principal Paul Schullo, Jimmy Longoria

Before an audience of what one winner called “arts investors” – people who have devoted their lives and careers to the arts – the 2012 Sally Awards, named for Sally Ordway Irvine, were bestowed in St. Paul last night at the McKnight. The Commitment Award went to Anthony Caponi, artist, environmentalist, professor emeritus at Macalester and founder of the Caponi Art Park in Eagan, where many of his sculptures are on display. “Touching one of my sculptures is the equivalent of hugging me,” he told the crowd. Faye M. Price and Noël Raymond of Pillsbury House & Theatre won the Initiative Award for co-leading the transformation of the community center and professional theater into a one-of-a-kind, arts-integrated social service center and a theater that inspires connections and change. Hillcrest Community School in Bloomington earned the Education Award for integrating the arts into the curriculum with the Artful Learning model from the Leonard Bernstein Center. David J. Fraher and Arts Midwest took the Arts Access Award for bringing artists and audiences together in Minnesota, the greater Midwest and the nation. Artist Jimmy Longoria helps youth deter gang graffiti and create community-based art through his organization, Mentoring Peace Through Art; he received the Vision Award. “When you start out being a street muralist, you don’t look forward to awards,” he said. This was the 21st year of the Sallies. Honorees received crystal statues and $2,500. 

If you haven’t yet bought your tickets for the 25th Annual Minnesota Book Awards Gala, now’s the time. Authors will meet you, greet you, and sign books before the ceremony, Lorna Landvik (“Patty Jane’s House of Curl”) will emcee, and an after party will include champagne, desserts and live music. This is not a dinner event. 7 p.m. Saturday, April 13, at the Hilton. FMI and tickets.

One of the great places to be in Minneapolis after dark is on the ninth floor of the Guthrie Theater. With floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides, it offers breathtaking views of the city, the river, and the Stone Arch Bridge. On June 22, you can dance at the Dowling as part of the Guthrie’s 50th anniversary weekend celebration. Live entertainment includes music by Sonny Knight & the Lakers and DJs Espada and Booka B. Sonny Knight was featured on “Twin Cities Funk & Soul,” the spectacular compilation of music from the 1960s and ’70s released last year by Secret Stash Records, and was part of the Twin Cities Funk & Soul All-Stars, whose performance at the Cedar was one of the year’s best concerts. 9:30 p.m. – 1 a.m. Saturday, June 22. FMI and tickets.

Are dance curators a thing of the past? Does it matter? Writing for mnartists.org, Lightsey Darst notes that the Southern doesn’t have a dance curator; the Walker just laid off Michèle Steinwald, its dance-focused performing arts curator; and even the Cowles lacks a curator. “Curators are the editors of the dance world,” Darst writes. “Without them, the stage goes to those who can pay for it. Some favor this democracy of cash; I don’t.”

On a happier note, Rohan Preston called attention in Sunday’s Strib to the Twin Cities’ vibrant and exciting small-theaters scene. “More than 50 small companies operate in the Twin Cities – a high-water mark over the past decade,” he wrote. “Not only have their numbers grown, but so has their level of craft and theater savvy.” We’re kicking ourselves for missing Dark & Stormy’s “Speed-the-Plow.” And we’re glad we made it to Gonzo Group’s “Long Day’s Journey into Night.”

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival starts Thursday.Individual tickets and packages are now on sale to everyone. The website is very clear and easy to use. You can download and print a guide in PDF format (warning! 116 pages), pull one out of Sunday’s Strib (taller and wider, so just 32 pages), or pick one up at the St. Anthony Main Theatre, the festival’s home at 115 SE Main Street in Minneapolis.

helm portrait
Photo by Kino Lorber
Levon Helm: drummer and singer for The Band, four-time Grammy winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer

The tiny Trylon has a bit of a coup scheduled for the night before the Film Fest opens. “Ain’t In It for My Health: A Film About Levon Helm” (drummer and singer for The Band, four-time Grammy winner, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer) won't officially premiere in theaters until April 19, but Sound Unseen snagged it for Wednesday, April 10. When the 7 p.m. screening came close to selling out, a second screening at 8:45 p.m. was added. FMI and tickets.

Congrats to the Cedar, named “Best World Music Venue” for the second year in a row in About.com’s Reader’s Choice poll. If you don’t have tickets to the “African Summer” concerts, you’d best not drag your feet. This year’s artists include Femi Kuti & the Positive Force, Amadou & Mariam, Vieux Farka Touré, and Fendika. FMI and tickets.

Calls for artists:the Soap Factory is accepting submissions for its 2014 season. Postmark deadline is Tuesday, April 30. The League of Longfellow Artists wants artists for its 5th annual Art Crawl, to be held Aug. 24-25. Participation is open to artists living and working in the greater Longfellow neighborhoods. Registration closes May 1. FMI. Twin Cities Pride is accepting video submissions; deadline Wednesday, May 1. Twin Cities Pride is also accepting applications from artists 18 years and older on the theme “I Have Pride” for its juried art exhibition. Deadline Friday, May 3.

Our picks for the week

scofield portrait
John Schofield

Tonight (Tuesday, April 9) at the Dakota: John Scofield’s Hollowbody Band Featuring Mike Stern. For fans of the jazz guitar – and fans of the guitar, period – this is one of those don’t-dare-miss events. Scofield and Stern on the same stage? With Bill Stewart on drums, Ben Street on bass? Duh. 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Wednesday at Coffman Memorial Union: Colum McCann talk and discussion. McCann is the author of five novels including “Let the Great World Spin,” winner of the National Book Award for Fiction. His sixth, “TransAtlantic,” is due in June. Free and open to the public. 7:30 p.m, Coffman Union Theater (on the first floor of Coffman on the U’s East Bank). FMI.

Wednesday at Subtext: Rachel Hanel reads from her memoir “We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down,” which should get the Best Book Title of the Year award, if there is such a thing; Hanel is a gravedigger’s daughter. 7 p.m., free. 165 Western Ave. N., St. Paul, down the stairs from Nina’s.

Starts Thursday at the U’s Rarig Center: “Something About a Bear.” The world premiere of a play for ages 8 to 80. Inspired by a Russian play based on a folk story, award-winning American playwright Constance Congdon transplants the tale and the characters – a wizard, a bear-turned-man, a cross-dressing princess, and a tyrant king – to a small town in northern Minnesota. A play of magic, humor and heart, with an original backwoods musical score by composer Johanna Gorman-Baer, performed live. Luvern Siefert and Annie Enneking star with a student cast. Through April 21. At the Stoll Thrust Stage of the Rarig Center, 330 21st Ave. S., Minneapolis. FMI and tickets.

Thursday and Saturday at the Chanhassen: The New Standards. Chan Poling (The Suburbs), Steve Roehm (Electropolis), and John Munson (Trip Shakespeare/Semisonic) bring their unique and infectious jazz/pop to the ’burbs. FMI and tickets.

Thursday in movie theaters: “Manet: Portraying Life.” Can’t get to London’s Royal Academy of Arts in time to see the big Manet show? No problem; it’s coming here in HD. A new “Exhibition” series visits several major shows, then brings them into theaters near you. Each is hosted by art historian Tim Marlow, with behind-the-scenes footage. The series continues with “Munch: Munch 150” (Thursday, June 27, from the National Museum and the Munch Museum on Oslo) and “Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love Leisure” (Thursday, Oct. 10) from the National Gallery in London.  All showings at 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets (see “Click here for tickets” at the bottom of your screen, then enter your ZIP code).

Thursday at Studio Z: a late addition to the “Jazz at Studio Z” series features Grammy nominated saxophonist, Kneebody member, and Sunnyside recording artist Ben Wendel. He’ll be joined by area musicians Brian Ziemniak (piano), Zacc Harris (guitar), Graydon Peterson (bass), and Pete Hennig (drums), with special guest Brandon Wozniak (saxophone). Should be fun for everyone. FMI and tickets.

Thursday at the Dakota: Simone Dinnerstein and Tift Merritt. Classically trained concert pianist Dinnerstein made a huge splash in 2007 with her self-produced recording of Bach’s “Goldberg” Variations, which won critical raves and sold a ton of copies. Now she has paired with North Carolina country-soul singer-songwriter Tift Merritt for a remarkable album about their shared passion for music – all kinds of music. Here’s a video about their collaboration, the new album “Night.” This promises to be very special and memorable. 7 p.m. (one show only). FMI and tickets

SPCO vote expected soon; efforts to save CVA fall short

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spco musicians photo
Musicians of the SPCO
The musicians of the SPCO will vote on a 'play-and-talk' deal.

By now, most of us have heard that the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra will very likely play some of the concerts left in its 2012-13 season, though the concerts will differ from those originally scheduled, in case you’re still holding on to your season announcement brochure. Late Tuesday afternoon, the musicians’ negotiating team agreed to ask the musicians to vote on a proposed contract that cuts salaries by 18.6 percent and reduces the size of the orchestra from 34 to 28, among other provisions. This is a “play-and-talk” agreement, not the final contract that will continue through the 2015-16 season; that version will have to be finalized and ratified by June 30. When will the actual vote take place? No one knows. The contract language is set and the media rights issues have been resolved with the national union, but all musicians must be physically present to vote (no phone-ins or emails allowed), and many have taken gigs elsewhere during the lockout. We’ll let you know when a vote is scheduled. If the result is ratification, concerts are expected to resume after May 5.

Following months of indecision, protests, and community efforts to keep St. Paul’s College of Visual Arts alive, a statement issued yesterday appears to have tolled the bell: “The CVA Board of Trustees has concluded with great sadness that efforts to keep the College open next year are not viable.” A group called CVA Action had worked hard to develop a plan and secure new sources of funding. When a key source of financing for their plan fell through last week, the trustees agreed to join with CVA Action in a two-week fundraising plea to the public. If they raised enough money, the college would hold on to its buildings and spend a year (or more) developing a new business model. But there was one condition the trustees insisted on: CVA would not enroll any students for the 2013-14 school year. CVA Action found that unacceptable. Students are being urged to transfer to other schools.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival is under way. What kinds of films would you like to see? Search the website by language (from Albanian to Wolof), topic (Aging, Corporate Greed, Disaster, Family Dysfunction, Midlife Issues, Mockumentary, Road Movie, and Urban Violence are among the many possibilities), or country/region (Albania to Zambia). There’s a generous selection of Minnesota-made films and a series called “More REEL” related to the themes of the MIA’s new exhibition “More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness.” Fans of jazz legend Charles Lloyd, who played four indelible sets at the Dakota in March, will want to see “Charles Lloyd: Arrows into Infinity,” which screens tonight at 8:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 9:20 p.m. It’s a fascinating, well-made film about music, life, spirituality, service, struggle, leadership, creativity, individuality, joy and freedom – and also jazz. This writer interviewed the filmmaker (and Lloyd’s wife) Dorothy Darr earlier this month.

Last night's opener at the film fest was a happy, chatty crush of film lovers, filmmakers flown in for the event, arts-loving luminaries including Sen. Dick Cohen and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, and sponsors; USBank is new this year and sent a crowd. The evening began and ended in Aster Cafe's event space, the former home of Segway Tours, an inviting room with river view. In between, we piled into two theaters, both showing "The Angels' Share," the moving, funny, uplifting and thought-provoking new film by Ken Loach ("The Wind That Shakes the Barley,""Sweet Sixteen"). Afterward, screenwriter Paul Laverty and MPR's Euan Kerr discussed the film and Laverty took a few questions from the audience. He reminded us of the value of watching a film as a communal experience and debating it after. Between now and April 28, you'll have about 260 chances to do that.

kellerman portrait
Keri Kellerman

Keri Kellerman has joined the Playwrights’ Center as managing director. She most recently served as managing director of Intiman Theatre in Seattle and brings more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit leadership to her new role in the Twin Cities. Kellerman’s responsibilities will include development and working with producing artistic director Jeremy Cohen to oversee the center’s operations, staff and board.

Ellen Stanley has been named executive director of the Minnesota Music Coalition (MMC), a nonprofit organization that supports independent musicians throughout Minnesota. Her position, which begins April 30, will be funded in part by a two-year grant from the McKnight Foundation. Stanley has been the director of publicity and promotions at the Grammy-winning indie label Red House Records. She produces and hosts “Womenfolk,” a weekly radio show on KFAI, and performs her own music under the name Mother Banjo.

On Sunday (April 14), the life of former Guthrie artist and University of Minnesota educator Stephen Kanee will be celebrated with an 11 a.m. memorial service on the Guthrie’s Wurtele Thrust Stage. At the Guthrie, Kanee was mentored by Michael Langham, directed “A Christmas Carol” in 1975 (launching a holiday tradition), and went on to direct many other productions. He joined the U’s faculty in 1986, where he served as an associate professor and head of the directing program. He retired from the U in 2005. A reception will follow the service.

The Walker, the MIA, and the Weisman have all signed on for this year’s International Museum Day on May 18. Visitors to the Walker will enjoy member-for-a-day privileges including free gallery admission and discounts at the Walker shop and restaurants. The MIA will offer free admission to “More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness” to all museum visitors who take a photo of their visit and share it on social media. The Weisman will offer a 10 percent discount in the WAM Shop.

Our picks for the weekend and Monday

diawara photo
Photo by Youri Lenquette
Fatoumata Diawara plays the Cedar on Friday

Tonight (Friday, April 12) at the Cedar: Fatoumata Diawara. The Midwest debut of the lovely and enchanting Malian singer. Her debut CD, “Fatou,” is a delight. Watch the video,get tickets. Doors at 7 p.m., music at 8.

Tonight and Saturday at the U of M ReUse Program Warehouse: the Textile Center’s Textile Garage Sale. Fabric, yarn, threads, notions, kits, patterns, magazines, tools, beads, buttons, sewing machines. Preview party tonight, 6:30 p.m. – 8. $25 at the door. Sale tomorrow, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.; admission $1. 883 29th Ave. SE, Minneapolis. FMI.

Tonight through Sunday in Lanesboro: The 16th Annual Ibsen Festival. Scandinavian pastries, Viking chess, the Tarantella, an exhibit of clay sculptures, lectures, storytelling, and, of course, theater, including the world premiere adaptation of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” by Jeffrey Hatcher, the latest in a series commissioned by Lanesboro’s Commonweal Theater. Most events (except for the plays) are free. FMI.

Saturday at the Ordway: Puccini’s “Turandot” opens. The final production of the Minnesota Opera’s 50th anniversary season is a very big deal, with two casts, spectacular sets and costumes, an opulent new production by French-Canadian director-designer team Renaud Doucet and André Barbe (built in the Minnesota Opera Center in the Minneapolis Warehouse District), and, of course, Puccini’s music. We’ve been inviting members of Theoroi, a group of “arts ambassadors” ages 21-35 sponsored by the Schubert Club, to preview events they’re attending. This is one, and here’s why Theoroi member Emma Lynn can’t wait to see it: “Is anything more agonizing than an unsolved riddle? The famous puzzles (and sweeping melodies) of Puccini’s ‘Turandot’ have kept audiences enthralled for decades. Opera buffs and newbies can look forward to favorites such as ‘Nessun Dorma,’ the tenor aria that became one of Pavarotti’s signatures. The story centers on the iconic ice princess, Turandot, whose reluctance to relinquish her power through marriage is so strong that she vows to kill any suitor unless he can correctly answer three riddles. Then a mysterious prince determined to win her hand appears. Both casts are equally star-studded, and Puccini’s music is accessible yet intense. Here’s a head start on the first riddle: ‘What is born each night and dies each dawn?’ This is one of my favorite operas.” Michael Christie conducts; the casts include Russian soprano Irina Rindzuner, Helen Todd, Kelly Kaduce, Christie Hageman and Vern Sutton. Through April 21. FMI and tickets.

Saturday at Bethel University: Composer and pianist Jeremy Walker premieres “7 Psalms,” his new work for jazz quartet, solo voice, and choir. Music fans know Walker for his gigs at the Artists’ Quarter and the Dakota; the jazz club, Brilliant Corners, he owned in St. Paul; and Jazz is NOW, the educational nonprofit and jazz orchestra he founded in the mid-00s. This writer profiled Walker for yesterday’s Star Tribune. 8 p.m. in Benson Great Hall, 3900 Bethel Drive (near Highway 51 and I-694). Free.

walker photo
MinnPost photo by John Whiting
Jeremy Walker

Saturday at Hopkins Center for the Arts: We Love Our Pianos! A program that explores singers, piano players, and their relationship in jazz and popular song. Presented and hosted by singer and radio personality Arne Fogel, with vocalists Connie Evingson and Nancy Harms and pianists Rick Carlson and Tanner Taylor. 7 p.m. social hour, music at 8 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Saturday at Macalester: the Macalester Pipe Band. Bagpipes! Kilts! Mike Breidenbach leads the band in its annual spring concert. At the new Mairs Concert Hall in the Music Building. 8 p.m. $5 children, $10 adults, free with Macalester ID. 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul. Tickets at the door.

Sunday at the Amsterdam: KFAI Rocks. A post-pledge-drive benefit concert for the volunteer-based community radio station. Performers include the Mighty Mofos, Curtis A and Dark Click, the Oddfathers, and Patterson’s Prisoners. 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. $10 suggested donation.

Monday at Plymouth Congregational Church: Jane Hirshfield. The distinguished poet, author of seven collections of poetry and the book of essays “Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry,” Guggenheim, Rockefeller, NEA, and Academy of American Poets fellow (and chancellor) reads for Plymouth’s luminous Literary Witnesses series. 7 p.m., 1900 Nicollet Ave. at Franklin in Minneapolis. FMI.

Northrop, Emily Johnson win dance grants; Rock the Garden, Basilica lineups imminent

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Good news for dance in the Twin Cities: Northrop at the University of Minnesota and Emily Johnson have received both a $30,000 MAP Fund grant and a $155,000 Doris Duke Residency grant. The MAP grant will support the production of Johnson’s new work “Shore,” set to premiere at Northrop in June 2014. (Currently closed for renovation, the building is scheduled to reopen in spring 2014.) The Doris Duke grant, designed to build audience demand, will help Northrop increase its reach to the Native American community. You can catch Emily Johnson and her dance company Catalyst on Sunday, April 21, at the O’Shaughnessy, where they’ll present Johnson’s “Niicugni” as part of the Women of Substance series co-presented with Northrop. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets.

SPCO update: The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has canceled two more sets of concerts: "Mozart and the Modernists (April 26-28) and "Viennese Masters" (May 2-5).

What goes around comes around. MPR reports that Cafesjian’s Carousel will open its 14th season at Como Park on May 1. (The snow will be gone by then, right?) Once slated for auction, the former State Fair attraction was saved by a nonprofit community group and has been restored to its original 1914 splendor – all 68 prancing horses and two chariots. There’s nothing as romantic as a carousel ride on a balmy evening. (We will have a balmy evening or two before the days start getting shorter, right?)

carousel
Courtesy of Cafesjian’s Carousel
Cafesjian’s Carousel will open its 14th season at Como Park on May 1.


And the winners of this year’s Minnesota Book Awards are: David LaRochelle, Children’s Literature, for “It’s a Tiger!” (Chronicle); David Treuer, General Nonfiction, for “Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey Through Reservation Life” (Atlantic Monthly Press); David Housewright, Genre Nonfiction, for “Curse of the Jade Lily” (Minotaur /St. Martin’s); Atina Diffley, Memoir & Creative Nonfiction, for “Turn Here Sweet Corn: Organic Farming Works” (University of Minnesota Press); Gwen Westerman and Bruce White, Minnesota, for “Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota” (Minnesota Historical Society Press); Louise Erdrich, Novel & Short Story, for “The Round House” (HarperCollins); Patricia Kirkpatrick, Poetry, for “Odessa” (Milkweed); and Geoff Herbach, Young People’s Literature, for “Nothing Special” (Sourcebooks). The Strib’s Laurie Hertzel reports that “Erdrich looked as delighted by the Minnesota Book Award as she surely did for the bigger prize” (the National Book Award she won last November). Peek into all of the winners and nominees at “32 Books in 32 Days,” a very ambitious blog that’s running a tiny bit behind. 

More on books: Hertzel credits Graywolf exec editor Jeff Shottswith the publisher’s recent successes including the Pulitzer, the Nobel, the National Book Critics Circle Award and more. A window into what makes a good editor, especially a good poetry editor.

mela portrait
Courtesy of Francisco Mela
Francisco Mela will perform at Jazz Central with area artists Tanner Taylor, Graydon Peterson and Brandon Wozniak on Thursday night.


Heads up, jazz and Afro-Cuban music fans: Percussionist Francisco Mela is coming to town. The Blue Note recording artist played with jazz giant McCoy Tyner at his sold-out show in Hopkins in March; we’ve seen him here with Joe Lovano’s Us Five at Jazz Fest and Esperanza Spalding’s Chamber Music Society at the Dakota. On Thursday and Friday he’ll work with students at South High, McNally Smith and Minnetonka High. Thursday night, he’ll give a drum clinic at Jazz Central with area artists Tanner Taylor, Graydon Peterson and Brandon Wozniak. 8 p.m. Donations accepted. At 11 a.m. Saturday, McNally Smith will host a free drum clinic, open to all, and a reception after (with snacks). Mela will be at MacPhail at 4 p.m. that day for a workshop featuring the Dakota Combo, also free and open to the public. On Saturday night, he’ll give a concert at MacPhail’s acoustically delicious Antonello Hall, once more with Taylor, Peterson and Wozniak. 8 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Who’s playing two of the summer’s biggest and best music festivals? Tune in to 89.3 The Current at 4 p.m. today to hear Mary Lucia, Jim McGuinn and the Walker’s Philip Bither reveal the lineup for Rock the Garden 2013, set for Saturday, June 15. On Thursday at the Pourhouse starting at 3:30 p.m., Cities 97 will unveil the 2013 Basilica Block Party line-up of 19 bands – one band every 15 minutes. (The Strib’s Chris Riemenschneider couldn’t wait for the announcements and lobbed some guesses ahead of time.) For both events, membership has its privileges. Rock the Garden tickets go on sale exclusively to Walker and MPR members on Friday, April 19, at 11 a.m. (Last year, tickets sold out within an hour.) A limited number of BBP presale tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 20, through the Cities 97 Frequent Listener Club. General admission sales start Saturday, May 4.

The Skylark Opera’s sixth Summer Festival looks promising, provocative and fun. Running in repertory: the Broadway hit “The Fantasticks” directed by Robert Neu, and a new production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera“The Mikado” directed by Rick Shiomi, artistic director of Mu Performing Arts. About “The Mikado,” Shiomi hints, “It will be a topsy-turvy re-imagination set in Edwardian England with updated names.” Randy Reyes will star as Co-Co, the tailor who becomes Lord High Executioner. FMI and tickets.

fantasticks
Courtesy of Skylark Opera/John Engtrom
Fantasticks: Quinn Shadko, Gabriel Preisser, Matt Berdahl


For artists: Do you have an art, performance or site-specific project ready to go? Need someplace to put it? Tonight at Dreamland Arts, a panel of experts including real estate professionals, attorneys and artists will walk you through the processes of looking, leasing, buying, and dealing with landlords, the city and lending institutions. Springboard for the Arts’ Andy Sturdevant, who writes “The Stroll” for MinnPost, will moderate. 6:30 p.m. – 9:30, 677 Hamline Ave. N., St. Paul. Pay-what-you-can; FMI and registration.

Playing now at the Pillsbury House Theatre, “River See” is challenging and magical. Challenging because playwright Sharon Bridgforth doesn’t spell out everything for you (and, in fact, changes things up during each performance). Magical because if you let that go, you’ll be caught up in the stories, the blues, the dance and the flow. Sonja Parks is See, a young woman coming of age in the rural South, deciding whether to join her mother in the North as part of the Great Migration. The ensemble – dancers Kenna Cottman and Leah Nelson, singers Aimee Bryant and Mankwe Ndosi, and musician/poet Truth Maze – move fluidly around and across the stage, up and into the audience. Most playwrights stay behind the scenes; Bridgforth is on stage the whole time as participant, singer, and on-the-spot director, guiding the cast through scripted parts and improvisations and also cueing the audience (volunteers only) through its roles: gesturing, quietly reading brief passages and prayers, speaking in different languages. It’s part theater, part jazz, part dreamy dream, lovely to watch and often funny. Through April 21. FMI and tickets (pay-what-you-want).

Our picks for the week

Doc Severinsen
Photo by John Whiting
Doc Severinsen

Tonight (Tuesday, Apr. 16) at the Dakota: Doc Severinsen and His Big Band. Much has been made of the fact that Doc is 85 and still playing, still touring, still dressing in red leather, satin and sequins. Let’s focus on the fact that he’s still really good. Johnny Carson’s former bandleader is a lesson to us all in finding something we love and sticking with it. Shows at 7 p.m. and 9. FMI and tickets.

Wednesday at Macalester: “Art by a Thousand Cuts.” French-born artist Béatrice Coron has worked in many mediums, but her specialty is cutting elaborate stories from paper. Her work includes illustrations, fine art, public art, and fashion; her creations are in major museum collections around the world. She’ll explore the many facets of contemporary paper cutting and their historical roots, and demonstrate the endless possibilities and applications of this simple media. Room 401 of the Humanities building, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul. 7 p.m., free.

Wednesday at the Walker: “United in Anger: A History of ACT UP.” The first cases of AIDS appeared in the U.S. nearly 40 years ago. As AIDS spread and became a pandemic, mostly among homosexual men, it was met with stigma, discrimination and government inaction. In 1987, a group of activists formed ACT UP, the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power, which changed everything – even as many of its own members were dying. Jim Hubbard’s documentary traces ACT UP’s history in archival footage and interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project. Hubbard will be present for a post-screening discussion. 7:30 p.m., Walker Cinema. FMI and tickets.

Wednesday at the Film Festival: MN Made Shorts: Narrative 2. Five short films from Minnesota-based and Minnesota-native filmmakers include “The Defector,” in which a young American intelligence analyst has a heated encounter with an older North Korean defector. Talk about timely. Writer, director and executive producer Lit Kilpatrick worked as an intelligence analyst for five years at the UN Command Headquarters in Seoul. Here’s the trailer. Showing with “Fray,” “Golden,” “Alma,” and “Undying Love.” The filmmakers will be attending. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Thursday at Common Good Books: poets Louis Jenkins, Connie Wanek, and Freya Manfred gather for an evening of verse. (Remember, it’s National Poetry Month.) FMI. 7 p.m. Free. Jenkins’ play “Nice Fish,” written with two-time Tony-winning actor Mark Rylance, is currently at the Guthrie (through May 18). FMI and tickets.

Thursday at the Mill City Museum: author Neal Karlen talks about his book “Augie’s Secrets: The Minneapolis Mob and the King of the Hennepin Strip,” just out from the Minnesota Historical Society Press. Augie Ratner, proprietor of Augie’s Theater Lounge and Bar on Hennepin Ave., was the unofficial mayor of Minneapolis’s downtown strip in the 1940s and ’50s. Karlen is his great-nephew. Cash bar at 6 p.m., program at 7, strippers at 10 (ok, no strippers). Free.

Orchestra lockout updates; Matisse show coming to MIA in 2014

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On Thursday, SPCO management reached agreement with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) on media issues and formally submitted its proposal to the musicians’ negotiating committee, which can now take it to the musicians for a ratifying vote. If enough musicians can make it home in time to vote by 5 p.m. Monday, it’s possible the SPCO lockout will end as soon as Tuesday and concerts will resume May 9.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Orchestra is making us crazy. What exactly is the point of management’s recent decision to hire a New York-based consulting firm to conduct its own independent financial review? Weren’t the locked-out musicians the ones who called for the review? Wasn’t the plan to hold a joint review? Didn’t everyone agree to that in January? Sort of, but then things fell apart … again. The two sides couldn’t agree on the scope and terms. Regardless of who does the review, and whether it’s joint or not, shocking revelations of financial chicanery seem unlikely. But a review commissioned and paid for by management is labor-dispute theater.

Meanwhile #2, management has canceled concerts through May 12, leaving only two programs from the 2012-13 season: Gilbert Varga conducting Mozart, Haydn and Mendelssohn (May 16-18) and Vänskä conducting Dvorák and Sibelius (May 30-June 2). Meanwhile #3, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski will return next Thursday, April 25, to lead the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra in works by Mozart and Bruckner at the O’Shaughnessy. Principal clarinetist Burt Hara will be the featured artist. FMI and tickets. Meanwhile #4, the musicians have accepted an invitation from management to address the full board of directors next Friday, April 26.

In case you missed the Rock the Garden line-up announcement, this year’s bands are Metric, Silversun Pickups, Bob Mould Band, Low, and Dan Deacon. Tickets go on sale to Walker and MPR members today at 11 a.m., if you’re reading this after 11:05, you're probably too late. If you were otherwise occupied during Thursday’s Basilica Block Party reveal (stuck in traffic, for example, or shoveling snow), the 19 bands for 2013 include Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Matchbox 20, Goo Goo Dolls, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and Matt Nathanson, plus Cloud Cult, Actual Wolf, Cactus Blossoms and Bomba de Luz. Thanks to Martin Williams Advertising, the Block Party has been rebranded with a new logo and a smart new phrase (and hashtag), “Praise the Loud.”

Today is Virtual Arts Advocacy Day. Speak up for the arts online.Go here anytime between now and 5 p.m., choose one or more issues, and email your legislators. It’s quick, it’s easy, and you’ll feel better after. The legislature is now creating the bills that will fund the arts. Last week, a House Committee proposed that only 41 percent of the Arts Legacy Fund go to the Minnesota State Arts Board/Regional Arts Councils system, down from 47 percent in 2009 (and the 50 percent advocated by Minnesota Citizens for the Arts). Go here if this is a concern for you.

Saturday is Record Store Day. Get up early, grab a donut and coffee, don your boots and parka, head for your favorite indie record stores and bring home some vinyl. New from Minneapolis-based Noiseland: “American Buffalo, Volume 2,” with Haley Bonar, Fathom Lane, A. Wolf & Her Claws, Solid Gold, the Pines, and more. From Legacy (Sony): Miles Davis’s “Round About Midnight” in mono on a 12" LP. Yum.

Matisse is coming! Specifically, “Matisse: Masterworks from the Baltimore Museum of Art” will open at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in February 2014. The paintings, sculptures, and works on paper, drawn entirely from the Baltimore museum’s permanent collection, will span six decades of the artist’s career. It should be another blockbuster.

art in bloom
Amanda Hankerson
Floral arrangement from Art in Bloom 2012: Nick Cave,
Soundsuit, 2010 Metal, wood, plastic, pigments, cotton
and acrylic fibers

Criminally deprived of the daffodils, crocuses and Northern bluebells we usually see this time of year, we could all do with a profusion of flowers. Thank goodness for Art in Bloom. This is the 30th year of the popular annual event at MIA, a four-day festival of floral arrangements and fine art. More than 150 floral artists will participate. Last weekend at the 60 Artists on 50th art show at Burroughs School in Minneapolis, the fine young potter Jason Trebs sold a handsome vase to a floral artist who will use it in the show. Thursday, April 25 – Sunday, April 28. Free and open to the public. FMI.

The U.S. Senate may not understand the need to reduce gun violence, but many Twin Cities theater people do. On Monday, May 6, several will gather at the Varsity for a benefit and fundraiser to boost public awareness about gun violence. Directed by Joshua Campbell, “To Life!” will feature performances by Regina Marie Williams, Tod Peterson, Ann Michaels, Thomasina Petrus, Julius Collins III, Kasono Mwanza and more in songs from musical theater, short plays, scenes, and monologues reflecting on gun violence. Also expected: local politicians and Sami Rahamim, whose father was killed at Accent Signage. Proceeds benefit Protect Minnesota. Doors at 6:30 p.m., show at 7. VIP tickets $100, general admission $25. Tickets here.

“Turandot” is everything an opera should be: spectacular, thrilling, visually and musically gorgeous. In the Minnesota Opera’s lavish production of Puccini’s great opera (the one with “Nessun Dorma”), the stage is blood-red and pulsing with motion when the curtain first rises, and it gets wilder, with sword-wielding executioners, flag-wearing dancers, elaborate costumes (we learned during intermission that they represent three Chinese dynasties), and a large chorus. By the time we meet the princess Turandot, she has already had 30 men executed for presuming to seek her hand. She has a valid if antiquated reason for her chronic misanthropy, but eventually love conquers even her icy heart. Two alternating casts play the main roles; we saw Christie Hageman as Liu, Scott Piper as Calaf, and Helen Todd as Turandot, all in full, glorious voice. An inadvertently funny line from Wednesday night’s performance: “April does not bring flowers/and the snow does not melt.” Tell us about it. On Thursday, a few tickets remained for Sunday afternoon’s final performance. Tonight and Saturday are sold out. Way to end your 50th anniversary season, Minnesota Opera.

turandot + altoum
Photo by Michal Daniel
Princess Turandot — Irina Rindzuner — and Emperor Altoum, Turandot's father — Vern Sutton — in the Minnesota Opera's production of Turandot


Our picks for the weekend and Monday

Ring by George Sawyer, part of the ACC show

Tonight through Sunday at the Saint Paul RiverCentre: the 27th annual American Craft Council (ACC) Show. Featuring more than 230 fine craft artists – creators of one-of-a-kind jewelry, ceramics, wearables, furniture, accessories, works in glass, musical instruments and more – this high-end juried show attracts thousands of collectors and enthusiasts. The ACC, a national organization, holds just four shows each year: in Baltimore, Atlanta, San Francisco, and St. Paul. How did St. Paul make the list? Credit Sam Grabarski, who headed the Minnesota State Arts Board from 1984-96. He and his board talked the ACC into moving its Dallas show to Minnesota, where it has remained since 1987. Friday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tickets here.

Tonight through Sunday at the Lab Theater:“C.” A musical in the making. Book and lyrics by Bradley Greenwald, music by Robert Elhai, directed by Peter Rothstein, starring Greenwald as Cyrano. If you’re going to take a chance on something new, do it in good company. Part of Theater Latte Da’s “Next: New Musicals in the Making” series, these are public readings of a work-in-progress, not a fully-realized production. 7:30 p.m., 700 North 1st St. Minneapolis. $14. Tickets here.

great divide posterTonight through Sunday at the Playwrights’ Center:“The Great Divide.” It’s Red vs. Blue close to home in Alan Berks’ new political play. When a middle-aged Republican tries to unseat the popular Democratic incumbent in Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District, he agrees to an interview with a liberal Twin Cities blog, hoping to attract sympathy and donations from the national Tea Party movement. Presented by Workhaus Collective, directed by Ellen Fenster, this is a workshop production – another first look at a brand-new thing. Berks’ adaptation of Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author” recently played the Gremlin to glowing reviews. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (post-show discussion Saturday), 7 p.m. Sunday. FMI and tickets (pay-what-you-like).

Saturday at the Hindu Temple of Minnesota:“Embracing the Beloved.” Minnesota musicians Nirmala Rajasekar, David Jordan Harris and Maryam Yusefzadeh use their musical traditions – Indian, Sephardic (Judeo-Spanish), and Persian – to find common ground. With musicians from Voices of Sepharad, the Persian ensemble Robayat, and artists working in the Carnatic (South Indian) tradition. 6 p.m., 10530 Troy Lane N. Maple Grove, admission $25. Also Wednesday, May 1 at the Sabes JCC  (7:30 p.m., $15) and Monday, May 13 at Mayo Clinic in Rochester (noon, free).

Saturday and Sunday at the MIA: Minneapolis Print & Drawing Fair. Now in its 20th year, this annual event brings collectors and the curious to brows a fantastic show of works by people like Rembrandt, Picasso, and today’s emerging artists, all available for purchase. 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Free admission.

Saturday and Sunday at the Capri Theater:“Etta … Tell Mama!” Thomasina Petrus pays tribute to Etta James. Many of us will remember Petrus as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill.” This time she’ll channel the singer of such hits as “At Last,” “Tell Mama,” and the searing love song “I’d Rather Go Blind.” The thought of Petrus letting loose on that one makes my heart beat faster. 7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets here.

Sunday at the Landmark Center, Weyerhaeuser Auditorium:“The Spirit of ’Trane.” The jazz trio Red Planet – Dean Magraw on guitar, Jay Epstein on drums, Chris Bates on bass – explores the music of John Coltrane as only they can. Trust us on this. 4 p.m., $15.

Sunday at Macalester’s Weyerhaeuser Chapel: Garrison Keillor and Common Good Books celebrate poetry. Old favorites, new friends, and the winner of the first annual Common Good Amateur Love Poem Contest. This will not be poetry that makes you scratch your head and go “Huh?” 1 p.m., 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul. Free.

Sunday at Central Lutheran Church: organist Gunnar Idenstam. Not that there’s anything wrong with church music, but isn’t it great to hear something else on a big pipe organ? (We’re thinking fond thoughts about John Zorn’s recent midnight performance at St. Mark’s Cathedral.) On Sunday, Swedish organist Idenstam sits down at Central’s mighty Casavant organ for a set of Swedish folk music (including a wedding march by ABBA’s Benny Andersson), Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, Ravel’s “Bolero,” and more. A reception following will include a conversation between Idenstam and “Pipedreams” host Michael Barone. 4 p.m. FMI and tickets

Monday at Birchbark Books: on Earth Day, Jim Lenfestey reads from his latest collection of poems, “Earth in Anger.” He asks us to think hard about planet Earth, climate change and species destruction. Heid Erdrich will introduce him. 7 p.m., free. Future readings of “Earth in Anger”: May 7 at River Falls Public Library, May 22 at Subtext Bookstore, June 2 at Plymouth Congregational Church.

Bob Dylan at Midway July 10; SPCO musicians voting by mail

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In June, Bob Dylan will launch a summer tour that would knock most people flat, even those who aren’t 71 years old. (He’s currently on a spring tour that runs through May 5.) He’s coming to Midway Stadium on July 10, with Wilco and My Morning Jacket. Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. through eTix online or by phone (1-800-514-ETIX), in person at the Midway Stadium box office or First Ave’s Depot Tavern. He’s calling his new tour the AmericanaramA Festival of Music. Tickets are $68, all general admission.

Because several SPCO musicians are currently away from home and performing elsewhere, the musicians decided Saturday to vote on management’s latest proposal by U.S. mail. Instead of enforcing its original deadline of 5 p.m. yesterday (and canceling more concerts), management has adjusted its timeline and also made some minor adjustments to the proposal based on discussions with the musicians’ negotiating committee. If the new proposal is ratified on or before Monday, April 29, the SPCO will begin rehearsals on May 7 and resume concerts on May 9.

With no public drama, the Minnesota Opera has successfully completed negotiations with its orchestra musicians for a new four-year contract that includes small increases in fees and pension contributions starting in 2014. We could hold this up as an example for the SPCO and the Minnesota Orchestra, except we’d be comparing apples to oranges. 

Like the musicians of the two larger orchestras, those of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra are members of the Twin Cities Musicians Union and the American Federation of Musicians. But this is a per-service orchestra, not a full-time orchestra. The musicians are not on salary, and they play about 28 performances each year. There’s a core orchestra of 54 players who are called first; additional musicians are called as needed. No one is paid for not playing. Plus – drum roll – management and musicians get along. In the press release about the new contract, Twin Cities Musicians Union President Brad Eggen praised the “positive and productive working relationship” and the “forward-thinking administration.”

mn opera orchestra
Courtesy of the Minnesota Opera
The musicians of the Minnesota Opera are not on salary; they play about 28 performances each year.

Minnesota Opera president and general director Kevin Ramach shed some light on this Monday in a conversation with MinnPost. “We’ve worked together to become a better organization all the way around,” he said. “The orchestra had for a long time wanted a music director; we found the right person at the right time [in Michael Christie, appointed last January], and that has helped our relationship. [Until 2011], we had a long tradition of having the SPCO play for one production a year. Our musicians felt, ‘If we’re the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, we should play for all the performances.’ So we eliminated having the SPCO play. The fact that we’re in the Arts Partnership with the SPCO made it more difficult to part with them, but that has helped our relationship with our players.” The musicians wanted more input into the audition process, and the establishment of permanent assistant principal positions; both are part of the new contract, which takes effect July 1, 2013.

university singers
Courtesy of the University Singers
The University Singers – 55 students and graduate
student conductors – will provide clinics and voice
instruction to high-school choirs.

If you’re in Osseo, the Brainerd area, or Cambridge, the University Singers are coming your way. On its first-ever tour through Minnesota, the University of Minnesota School of Music’s choral group – 55 students and graduate student conductors – will provide clinics and voice instruction to high-school choirs. They’ll also perform with high-school students on Thursday, April 25 in the Osseo High School Auditorium; Friday, April 26, at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Baxter; and Saturday, April 27, at Cambridge-Isanti High School. All performances are at 7:30 p.m., free and open to the public.

Ananya Dance Theatre travels a bit farther later this month – to Zimbabwe, where it will present “Moreechika: Season of Mirage” at the Harare International Festival of the Arts on April 30. Choreographed by Ananya Chatterjea to an original score by composer Greg Schutte, “Moreechika” is an evening-length work about oil and the environmental, cultural, and human costs of its extraction, particularly on women in global communities of color. Ananya recently made big changes in its governance and management structures. Gina Kundan will chair its board of directors, succeeding Anne Jin Soo Preston; Gary Peterson has been named to the new post of managing director, succeeding Jessica Briggs, who served as program manager.

The Guthrie’s recent announcement of its 51st season was met with matter-of-fact reporting, not the hue and cry of last year, when the 50th season was faulted for ignoring women and minorities. The mainstage line-up for 2013-14 includes first-time Guthrie productions of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Crimes of the Heart,” to be directed by the Guthrie’s Marcela Lorca, and Nina Raine’s Drama Desk winner “Tribes,” to be directed by Wendy C. Goldberg.

Other mainstage productions include a stripped-down version of Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya;” Garson Kanin’s “Born Yesterday;” Kneehigh Theatre’s production of “Tristan and Yseult,” adapted and directed by Emma Rice; Shakespeare’s “Othello,” directed by Marion McClinton; Timberlake Wertenbaker’s “Our Country’s Good,” performed by the British international touring company Out of Joint; the current Broadway hit “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” directed by Joel Sass; and the summer musical,“My Fair Lady,” directed by Joe Dowling. Penumbra will present“The Mountaintop” by Katori Hall on the Guthrie’s proscenium stage; Lou Bellamy will direct. The New York-based The Acting Company will return with Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.” Joe Chvala will once again direct “A Christmas Carol.”

The partial list of shows slated for the Dowling Studio includes David Goldstein’s“Skiing on Broken Glass,” Mark St. Germain’s “Freud’s Last Session,” Sun Mee Chomet’s“How to Be a Korean Woman,” Kyle Loven’s “Moon Show 143,” and productions by Pillsbury House Theater and the Mount Curve Company, Carlyle Brown & Company, Walking Shadow Theatre Company and Black Label Movement.

After nearly 20 years of requests, the Bell Museum may finally get funding for a new facility and planetarium,the Minnesota Daily reports. Outdated plumbing, no air conditioning, rodents, mold, flooding in the basement storage area and the lack of proper wheelchair access are just some of the problems plaguing the current location at 17th and University avenues on the U’s East Bank campus. The new museum would be built on the St. Paul campus.

We’d love to see what the Bell could do with a modern space. They already have modern ideas; their Valentine’s night “I Dig You!” event (a picnic dinner on a blanket before a diorama of your choice) sold out, they recently named several artists in residence, and the annual Bell Social draws crowds for a night of science, art, and music. Speaking of, this year’s Bell Social happens Saturday (April 27) starting at 6 p.m. Festivities include a performance by the Chastity Brown Trio, the debut of new works by Bell artists, a food truck, cash bar, and door prizes. FMI and tickets ($12/$10).

Our picks for the week

Tonight at the Film Festival: MN-Made Short Narratives 3. Five short films from Minnesta-based/Minnesota-native filmmakers include “Angelica,” about a love that never dies; “Golden Hour,” about an older man’s search to recover his lost memories, filmed in 10 different locations across the state (including Nokomis Coffee Shop); “School Night,” in which two teenagers break into their high school with plans to blow it up; “City Boots,” in which a horse knows best; and “Sicky,” about a six-year-old girl who invents an imaginary friend to cope with her mother’s illness. 7 p.m. Also showing tonight: the feature-length film “Gold Fever,” which explores what happens to a small town in Guatemala when a gold mine opens. From the Minnesota-based filmmaking team behind the 2008 festival hit “Pond Hockey.” 7:15 pm. tonight, 6:30 p.m. tomorrow (Wednesday).

ringwald quartet
Courtesy of Concord Music Group
Molly Ringwald's debut jazz CD, “Except … Sometimes,” is a pleasant surprise.


Tonight at the Dakota: Molly Ringwald Quartet. From “The Breakfast Club” to the Dakota stage is not such a stretch for Ringwald, whose father was a jazz musician. Her debut jazz CD, “Except … Sometimes,” is a pleasant surprise. (As Dakota owner Lowell Pickett gently reminded us last week, Ringwald was signed to Concord, a major label, and “Concord isn’t stupid.”) Drawn mostly from the Great American Songbook, the songs include “Pick Yourself Up,” “I’ll Take Romance,” “Exactly Like You,” and the “Breakfast Club” classic “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” Ringwald can sing, she can swing, and she fills the lyrics with meaning. Plus she’s adorable, which doesn’t hurt. This could be fun and charming. 7 p.m. and 9 ($35/$25). FMI and tickets.

Tonight in the Mall of America rotunda: Minnesota Vikings Cheerleader Auditions. Sixty finalists compete for 34 spots on the team, performing dance routines and cheers for a panel of judges. 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday at The Museum of Russian Art: MinnPost columnist Andy Sturdevant and TMORA curator Dr. Masha Zavialova host a panel discussion on conceptual art. Panelists include artists Marcus Young, Caroline Kent, Alexa Horochowski and Ruben Nusz. Presented in conjunction with the museum’s current exhibition, “Concerning the Spiritual in Russian Art, 1965-2011.” 6:30 p.m., doors at 6. Limited seating; reserve here. $5 general admission, free for TMORA members.

Wednesday at Fireside Pizza: One of the best-kept secrets among jazz and music fans is this cozy, neighborly Richfield pizzeria. Every Monday and Wednesday, Denny Malmberg and Charmin Michelle perform standards and favorites on accordion and voice. It’s like hearing live music in your living room, except your living room probably doesn’t have a big plastic tree and thin-crust pizza. This Wednesday, Malmberg and Michelle release their first CD together, “Struttin’ Out.” No cover, plenty of free parking, good music, a reasonable dinner tab and two-for-one house wine and tap beer. 7 p.m,

Opens Wednesday at Mount Zion Congregation:“We Could Recall/We Could Tell Stories.” A new play by Sharon DeMark (“Knit One, Purl the Other”), directed by Leah Cooper, based on oral histories of Minnesota holocaust survivors (and Mount Zion members). DeMark weaves the words of eight people from five different countries into a tapestry of suffering and renewal. Performers range in age from 14 to 88 and include both professional and community actors. 7 p.m. Wednesday, 7 p.m. Saturday (April 27), 2 p.m. Sunday (April 28). Free, but space is limited and reservations are required. Visit the website or call 651-698-3881.

Thursday and Friday at SPCO Center: Jace Clayton (DJ/rupture) performs “Julius Eastman Memorial Dinner.” Focusing on the life and music of gay African-American composer, pianist, and vocalist Julius Eastman, one of the first musicians to combine minimalist processes with elements of pop music, Clayton restages two Eastman compositions in new arrangements for multiple pianos and real-time electronic processing. In other words, he pulls piano sounds through the laptop, transforming and layering them with digital tools. He also adds video and theatrical vignettes. Clayton is performing this work in only three U.S. cities, of which St. Paul is the third; he was at MoMA PS1 in Brooklyn earlier this week. He’s bringing his own group – Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Emily Manzo, David Friend, and Arooj Aftab – and adding two top area pianists, deVon Gray (dVRG) and Bryan Nichols. This program is part of the SPCO’s Liquid Music series curated by Kate Nordstrum. FMI and tickets.

Don Shelby takes on his biggest role in VocalEssence's ‘Paul Bunyan’

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shelby paul bunyan
Photo by Mike Krivit
Don Shelby as the voice of Paul Bunyan and
folksinger Pop Wagner

Since pushing back from the anchor’s desk at WCCO in 2010, Don Shelby has gone to college, built a house, grown his hair out, cut it off, written columns, studied playwriting, and launched a new career: actor.

Wearing fishnets and heels, he was the narrator in “The Rocky Horror Show” at the Lab Theater. He wrote an original Sherlock Holmes radio play, “The Barrington Ransom,” for the Lakes Area Theatre in Alexandria and starred as Holmes. He performed the one-man show “Mark Twain: Life in the Mississippi” at the Pioneer Place Theater in St. Cloud.

With Sally Wingert, Linda Kelsey, Tod Peterson and other local theater luminaries, Shelby took part in a staged reading of Dustin Lance Black’s play “8,” about California’s Proposition 8 trial. He recently finished a one-night stint as C. Walton Lillehei, who invented open-heart surgery, at a benefit for the U’s Lillehei Heart Institute. And he’s currently in talks with the History Theater to create a play about Lillehei and Earl Bakken, founder of Medtronic and inventor of the pacemaker. (Shelby had surgery in 2004 to repair a hole in his heart.)

But first, he’ll play the title role in the tallest tale of all.

You can see – make that hear – Shelby this weekend in the VocalEssence production of “Paul Bunyan,” an operetta by Benjamin Britten with libretto by W.H. Auden. Directed by Vern Sutton, conducted by Philip Brunelle, it features Shelby as the voice of Bunyan. He never appears on stage. When he speaks, the other characters look up, way up, because Bunyan is as tall as the Empire State Building.

We asked Shelby, “Do you feel as tall as the Empire State Building?” He said, “I do. Actually, taller. Whatever that building is in Malaysia. We have to adjust for the modern age. A few years ago, I would have felt as tall as the Sears Tower.”

'People know that voice'

We asked Brunelle, “Why cast Don Shelby?” He said, “Because of his voice. I thought – who in the Twin Cities has a really beautiful voice? A voice that people would recognize? People know that voice. And Don has taken to the part. He’s a big-time environmentalist, and ‘Paul Bunyan’ is about saving the Earth.”

The operetta has a clear environmental message. It’s not only about chopping down trees, but also about reforestation and responsible stewardship. And life in a lumber camp, birth, death, love, beans, Swedes, bookkeeping, philosophical musings, and a fight with a foregone conclusion.

How did an English composer and poet end up creating a musical drama about an American folk hero? Both were in America at the time. Auden left England for New York in January 1939 and spent most of the rest of his life here, becoming an American citizen in 1946. Britten and his life partner, the tenor Peter Pears, followed Auden and remained in the States until April 1942.

Britten's first opera

Composed in 1941, Britten’s score pays homage to American music. “He was living in New York, and he loved Broadway and the musicals,” Brunelle said. “If you didn’t know this piece was by Britten, you might hear it and think, ‘Who’s the composer?’ Parts sound like Gershwin, parts like Kurt Weill, parts like Rodgers and Hammerstein. He wanted to salute all the styles of America … This was Britten’s first opera. It's very different from the ‘War Requiem’ and some of the grand operas he wrote. It has hallmarks of Britten, but a much lighter touch.”

We asked Shelby, “Did you know this work before Brunelle tapped you for the part?” He said, “I did. I attended the music conservatory at the University of Cincinnati, which at that time was rated above Juilliard. I know how to say ‘libretto.’ I also know a little about a double-bit axe.”

What is it like to play a character who’s never on stage? “You’re not physically limited. I use the Stanislavski approach; I inhabit the character. I feel that I can be as large as I want to be. I don’t wear makeup. I don’t put on stilts. My voice comes out of the third balcony, basically. It comes out of the sky.”

VocalEssence (then known as the Plymouth Music Series) first performed “Paul Bunyan” at the Ordway in 1987 and was invited to bring it to England’s Aldeburgh Music Festival (founded by Britten) in 1988. A call came in from the newly formed record label Virgin Classics; could they feature “Paul Bunyan” as one of their 1988 launch CDs? The CD won a Gramophone Award (England’s Grammy) for Best Opera Recording.

100th anniversary of Britten's birth

brunelle portrait
Photo by Ann Marsden
Philip Brunelle

We asked Brunelle, “Why reprise it now?” He explained, “This year being the 100th anniversary of Britten’s birth, it was time to bring it back. It’s basically an all-new cast. The young lovers in the earlier version aren’t young now. Only a few of us from the old cast are repeating. Vern Sutton is still staging it. Pop Wagner is returning as the ballad singer, and Jim Bohn as the logging camp foreman, Hel Helson; he can be any age. And the conductor! Don’t forget him.”

We asked Shelby about the publicity photo. Is that really him holding a tiny Pop Wagner? “It is,” he said. “And we’re both actual size.” 

*** 

“Paul Bunyan” is a semi-staged production with a full cast, the VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers, and a live 41-piece orchestra. Two nights only: Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27. Both performances are at 8 p.m. at the Ted Mann Concert Hall. Saturday’s is preceded by a Concert Conversation with John Birge and Vern Sutton at 7 p.m. FMI and tickets ($40-$20). 


Northrop updates; Saint Paul Art Crawl

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’Tis the season for season announcements. On Wednesday, Northrop unveiled its 2013-14 Northrop MOVES dance season at a party in the offices of its architect, HGA. First came a report on the status of the renovation/revitalization, begun in February 2011 and scheduled for completion in Spring 2014. In a nutshell, the new Northrop will have three times as much public space as before, three balconies instead of one, better sightlines, better sound, more bathrooms (here the audience cheered), a better space for the pipe organ (but no budget yet to restore it), a second lecture/performance space (170 seats), and an architecturally sensitive addition that deepens the stage and allows for crossover. Eighty percent of the seats will be within 100 feet of the stage, up from 20 percent in the old configuration. Happily, the proscenium arch is still there, with the damaged parts under repair; sadly, the great chandelier is in storage and waiting for a new home.

Like the two previous seasons, 2013-14 will take place elsewhere while Northrop is closed. Most performances will be at the Orpheum, with co-presentations at the O’Shaughnessy and the Walker. The eight performances include both contemporary dance and big-company ballet. The line-up: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Sept. 21, 2013), Gallim Dance (Oct. 12), Ballet Preljocaj (Oct. 30), Shanghai Ballet (Nov. 12), Kate Weare Company (Dec. 5), Wayne McGregor Random Dance (Jan, 14, 2014), Royal New Zealand Ballet (Feb. 8), and Trisha Brown Dance Company (March 12-15). Our preliminary picks: Gallim (choreography by Andrea Miller), Wayne McGregor (music by Ben Frost), Trisha Brown (a farewell tour of works made for the stage, seen one last time in their original context). FMI and package tickets. Single tickets go on sale this summer.

Ten Thousand Things Theater will celebrate its 20th anniversary with three new productions. Artistic director Michelle Hensley will direct Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Oct. 10 – Nov. 3) and a new play by Kira Obolensky (May 9, 2014 – June 1), title to be announced, about a mysterious peddler selling visions of the future and past. (Thanks to a major grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Obolensky is on staff at TTT for the next three years.) Guest director Lear deBessonet will team with Peter Vitale for Meredith Wilson’s“The Music Man” (Feb. 13 – March 9). That’s our preliminary pick of the season because we can’t imagine what TTT will do with it, and we’re deeply intrigued. In a press release, Hensley promises to “[mix] things up in terms of gender and race and class, so that everyone can be included – on stage and in the audience.” Tickets go on sale in September.

cooper photo
Photo by Sussie Ahlburg
Imogen Cooper

The Chopin Society plans five solo piano recitals for its 2013-14 season, all at Macalester College’s new Mairs Concert Hall. English pianist Imogen Cooper will play Schubert (Oct. 6, 2013), Uzbek virtuoso Behzod Abduraimov will present Beethoven and Chopin (Nov. 10), International Classical Music Awards 2012 Artist of the Year Jean-Efflam Bavouzet of France will perform the complete Debussy Etudes (Feb. 16, 2014), Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan’s program will include Bach, Beethoven, and Barber (March 16), and American Richard Goode, making his third visit to the Chopin Society, will play works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Our preliminary picks: Abduraimov and Goode. Season tickets go on sale in June. Contact the Society by email (chopinsocietymn@aol.com) or phone (612-822-0123). 

The History Theatre’s 2013-14 season will include three world premieres, two regional premieres, and one returning favorite. In chronological order: “Baby Case,” a new musical about the media circus that surrounded the Lindbergh baby kidnapping (Oct. 5 – Nov. 3); “Christmas of Swing,” featuring the music of the Andrews Sisters (Nov. 22 – Dec. 22); Eric Simonson’s “The Incredible Season of Ronnie Rabonivitz,” about Jackie Robinson’s pen pal (Feb. 1 – 23, 2014); Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” (March 15 – April 6); Helen Benedict’s “Lonely Soldiers: Women at War in Iraq” (March 18 – April 6); and “Working Boys Band,” with book and lyrics by Dominic Orland, music by Hiram Titus (May 3 – June 1). Our preliminary pick: “The Things They Carried,” adapted from Minnesota writer O’Brien’s stories about his wartime experiences in Vietnam. FMI and season tickets

Under normal circumstances, the Minnesota Orchestra would have announced its 2013-14 season earlier this year, and we’d be telling you the SPCO’s season around now. Last night, the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra played another nearly sold-out concert on its own, at O’Shaughnessy, under Stanislaw Skrowaczewski’s baton, but the 2012-13 season is a goner. The SPCO expects to resume the remainder of its 2012-13 season in early May. 

The Loft on Thursday announced the winners of the 2013 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Writers. For Creative Prose: Matthew Batt (St. Paul), Eric Braun (Minneapolis), Susan Koefod (St. Paul), and Kao Kalia Young (Andover). For Children’s Literature: Anne Ursu (Minneapolis). Each will receive $25,000. 

We hope Louise Erdrich has a big fireplace mantel. Having just won a Minnesota Book Award for “The Round House” (and earlier, in November, the National Book Award), she’s up next for a Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Her competition for the $5,000 prize: Junot Diaz (“This Is How You Lose Her”) and Richard Ford (“Canada”). The winners will be announced at the American Library Association’s conference on June 30.

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded 24 Art Works grants totaling $825,000 to 24 Minnesota organizations including the American Craft Council, James Sewell Ballet, Bedlam Theatre, Cantus, History Theatre, Hmong Cultural Center, the Loft, Minnesota Orchestra, Park Square Theatre, Pillsbury House Theater, Public Radio International, Springboard for the Arts, Ten Thousand Things, TPT, and the Walker. Go here for a complete list of grantees and dollar amounts.

Community Supported Art (CSA) goes on sale at 10 a.m. next Friday, May 3. Buy a share and sometime this summer you’ll receive two boxes of locally produced artwork: a print by Elisabeth Cunningham, a photograph by Horacio Devoto, something ceramic by Ginny Sims, and who knows what by visual artists Mary Bergs, Anne George, Katie Hargrave and Haley Prochnow. No telling what theater artists Jason Overby and Telsche Thiessen will prepare for you, or music and visual arts collaborative Take Acre (Rich Barlow, Jaron Childs, Charles Gillett, Davu Seru). Member shares are $300 and only 50 are available. A reservation form will go live at this link on May 3 at 10

For artists: Applications are open for the 2014 Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Grants from $2,000 - $10,000 will be awarded for career-building and creative development. Deadlines: Literary arts (poetry and prose): 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 31. Performing arts (dance, music, theater): 4:30 p.m. Friday, June 28. Visual arts (media arts, photography, visual arts): 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 26. FMI.

The Arts Board needs volunteers to review grant applications and give advice on funding recommendations for its Arts Learning, Folk and Traditional Arts, and Minnesota Festival Support programs. Artists, arts educators and administrators, teaching artists, and festival organizers are encouraged to participate. Panels meet in St. Paul; lodging is provided for panelists from Greater Minnesota. FMI

We’ve heard that the Old Log might be on the block, and now it appears that a sale is imminent.Writing for the Strib, Graydon Royce mentions Twin Cities software executive Greg Frankenfield as a likely buyer and Excelsior developer Jon Monson as an interested party. Will the state’s oldest professional theater survive or be razed?  

Our picks for the weekend

Tonight at Studio Z: Cherry Spoon Collective. Music fans with their ears to the ground have been hearing about a new group called Cherry Spoon Collective since sometime in 2011. There’s been one performance so far – at the Amsterdam in March last year – but this will be their official debut. One way to describe Cherry Spoon is as a multi-instrumental, cross-generational, poly-genre group of improvising musicians and composers, inclusive and morphable. Another way: musicians who can play pretty much anything. Another way: creators, seekers, collaborators, crossers-over. Project leaders are Michelle Kinney, Nick Gaudette, and Patrick O’Keefe; musicians include Laura Harada, Jacqueline Ultan, Chris Thomson, George Cartwright and Geoff Senn, among others. The band will hold an informal discussion between sets. 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., free. Studio Z is in the heart of Lowertown, and this is Art Crawl weekend, so you can do it all.

cherry spoon collective
Photo by Jim Nihart
Music fans with their ears to the ground have been hearing about a new group called Cherry Spoon Collective since sometime in 2011.

Tonight at the University of St. Thomas: poet Leontia Flynn of Belfast, Northern Ireland, reads from her work. Flynn is the winner of the annual Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry, named for the former St. Thomas English professor, former member of the Board of Trustees and recently retired head of the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation. The $5000 prize honors Irish poets. 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center on the St. Paul campus, 2115 Summit Ave. Free and open to the public.

Tonight at the Walker: “Heroic Frenzies: The Music of Craig Taborn.” The Golden Valley native, arguably one of today’s most exciting young jazz keyboardist/composers, comes home for three sets of engaging, beautiful, unpredictable music: with Junk Magic (Dave King, Erik Fratzke, Chris Speed, Mat Maneri), his own trio (Gerald Cleaver, Thomas Morgan), and solo. Taborn just released his second CD on the prestigious label ECM, “Chants,” to rave reviews. Here’s Britt Robson’s informed and insightful preview for the Strib. 8 p.m. in the McGuire Theater. FMI and tickets.

Tonight and tomorrow at the Ted Mann: VocalEssence performs “Paul Bunyan,” an operetta by Benjamin Britten with libretto by W.H. Auden. FMI and tickets. See the MinnPost interview with Don Shelby (the voice of Paul Bunyan) and conductor Philip Brunelle.

Tonight through Sunday: Saint Paul Art Crawl. The weather has promised to cooperate with this annual springtime ramble through hundreds of artists' studios and galleries in Lowertown and throughout St. Paul. Here’s everything you need to know.

Tonight through Sunday at the Minneapolis Photo Center: “This Is Our Work.” The first public arts exhibition by Veterans in the Arts, formed in 2010 to encourage and support our military veterans, many with compromising health issues, to explore the arts. Nineteen veterans have come together to share their recent work as artists with fellow veterans and the public. Some of the work has war as its subject; some represents what is close to the artists’ hearts. Opening reception 8 p.m. Friday. Gallery hours 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sunday.

Saturday and Sunday at Macalester: Macalester Choirs Present Orff’s “Carmina Burana.”“Oh Fortune, fickle as the moon, constantly changing!” As many times as you hear it (OK, as many times as some of us hear it), the bawdy, blustery scenic cantata never gets old. Free, but seating is limited. 8 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday in the Mairs Concert Hall, Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul.

Sunday in Minneapolis: A Mid Century Affair History Crawl. Architectural historian Jane Kine Hession leads an afternoon outing devoted to the decor, architecture and lifestyle associated with Midcentury Modernism. Starts and ends at the Saarinen-designed Christ Church Lutheran, with stops at Miller Upholstering, Forage Modern Workshop, and a nearby midcentury home. 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. FMI and registration ($60-$50). Can't make it this Sunday? The tour repeats May 5.

SPCO musicians ratify contract; concerts to resume May 9

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On Monday, the musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra accepted management’s latest proposal and its conditions, which include a significant salary cut and the downsizing of the orchestra from 34 players to 28. After a lockout that began Oct. 1 and lasted 191 days, they will play their first official concert on May 9 at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church in Apple Valley, a program of music by Schoenberg, Robert Schumann and Mozart featuring cellist Steven Isserlis and conducted by Thomas Zehetmair.

The lockout is over, but all is far from copacetic. Along with signing a three-year agreement, the musicians called for “the immediate commencement of a search for a new SPCO leader with proven orchestra management experience, and the vision and skill to substantially increase revenues.”

“We’re eager and excited to return to the stage and play music again for our loyal audiences,” said Carole Mason Smith, chair of the musicians’ negotiating committee, in a press release sent yesterday afternoon. “But we remain deeply concerned about the artistic quality of the SPCO for future generations.”

We spoke with Mason Smith later that day.

MinnPost: How are you feeling, now that the lockout has ended?

Carole Mason Smith: It’s a relief to know that we’ll be getting back to work, that we’re going to have revenue coming in to every household. But it’s a regressive agreement, and there’s no improvement over the course of the agreement. Besides being personally difficult on musicians and their families, it makes it more of a challenge to remain competitive musically. So that’s something we’re going to have to work out.

There are going to be a lot of changes. We’re really going to have to scramble to be competitive. With all the openings we’re going to have, because of people leaving and taking incentivized retirements, it’s a real concern. We won’t know until June [how many people will stay].

MP: The musicians have called for the SPCO to immediately start searching for a new leader. Dobson West is interim president; he wasn’t supposed to be there permanently. Was there any effort to find a new leader during the lockout?

CMS: They started it, then suspended it. Now it’s time to start again. I don’t think that should come as a surprise to anyone.

MP: Will the musicians have a say in choosing the new leader? 

CMS: That’s yet to be determined. 

MP: Did the orchestra, in fact, come close to not having a 2013-14 season?

CMS: You’ll have to ask the management. They said it was a real possibility the orchestra would cease to exist.

MP: Was that a turning point for the musicians?

CMS: We took notice of it, for sure. It’s not a matter of cost, it’s a matter of being able to find the revenue. To do that, we need new management, new leadership who will understand the idea of not sacrificing the product. 

MP: What is the general mood of the musicians?

CMS: What we’re going to do right now is concentrate on making music. The sooner we can get back to that, the sooner we will find our own center and figure out where to go from there.

A lot of musicians have taken other guaranteed work, not knowing what would happen. You can’t blame them. But you won’t see everybody you’re expecting to see at our concerts. A lot of musicians – regular, core members – won’t be there. I’m glad we have our artistic partners coming in. It will make a difference to see Thomas [Zehetmair] and Dawn [Upshaw] and Edo [de Waart].

MP: When will the new season be announced?

CMS: I don’t know. I would assume as soon as possible. We’re behind. There was difficulty lining up a season because of uncertainty.

MP: Who planned the new season?

CMS: We have not been allowed inside the building [the SPCO offices] for seven months. I don’t know who planned the next season. I would assume the artistic director, Patrick Castillo, planned it, but he resigned last week. I hope he completed the season, but I haven’t seen it.  

MP: When do you start rehearsals for your May 9 concert?

CMS: May 7. We were not allowed to have music until after the lockout was declared over – that’s at midnight tonight. Having music has been a big concern for a lot of our musicians, but management would not hand out music. We like to be prepared. This has not made it any easier. 

It’s good to get back to work, but this is going to be really challenging. It really is.

***

After Thursday night’s Mozart-Bruckner concert at the O’Shaughnessy, the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra told their board on Friday that it must end the lockout before negotiations can begin. Orchestra president Michael Henson called this “a new barrier.” Here’s Larry Fuchsberg’s review of Thursday’s concert. Here’s what violist Sam Bergman said to the audience after the intermission and before the Bruckner.

Rudresh Mahanthappa
Photo by Jimmy Katz
Rudresh Mahanthappa

Jazz saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa has won the 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. Some of us will remember him from his incendiary shows at the Walker with Kinsmen (one of his many bands) and pianist Vijay Iyer, and at the Ted Mann with Danilo Perez for the Northrop Jazz series. Mahanthappa is currently touring with his latest band, Gamak, and creating a new collaborative work with our own Ragamala Dance called “Song of the Jasmine,” a co-commission with the Walker that premieres there in April 2014. The Doris Duke is a dream award; each winner receives an unrestricted, multiyear cash grant of $225,000 plus as much as $25,000 more for audience development and another $25,000 incentive for saving for retirement years. Other 2013 awardees in jazz include Anthony Braxton, Billy Childs, Amir ElSaffar, Miya Masoaka, Myra Melford, and William Parker. Here’s the complete list of the Class of 2013.

Superstar jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, a member of the Doris Duke Class of 2012, brings his Beautiful Dreamers trio to the Dakota tomorrow and Thursday, with Eyvind Kang on violin and viola, Rudy Royston on drums. “Beautiful Dreamers” is the perfect name for this unconventional threesome that floats and swings through a repertoire of Americana and jazz. 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. FMI and tickets ($40-$35).

frisell photo
Courtesy of the Dakota
Bill Frisell

The Minnesota Opera’s 50th anniversary season has ended, but the opera is giving us a fabulous encore: three free outdoor concert performances of Puccini’s “La Bohème.” These family-friendly events will feature the Minnesota Opera Orchestra and Chorus and soloists including Harold Meers (making his company debut), Karin Wolverton and Andrew Wilkowski (last seen in “Silent Night”), Rodolfo Nieti (“Hamlet”), and Christie Hageman and Brad Benoit (“Turandot”). Leonardo Vordoni (“Lucia di Lammermoor”) conducts. Friday, June 14, 7 p.m. at Harriet Island Pavilion in St. Paul; Saturday, June 15, 7:30 p.m. at Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis; Sunday, June 16, 7 p.m. at Shattuck-St. Mary’s School in Faribault. The Minnesota Opera? Free? “La Bohème?” A trifecta of reasons not to head for the cabin that weekend.

The Walker has announced the dates for “Summer Music and Movies in Loring Park,” its popular annual sampler of classic film and eclectic music. Four Mondays: July 29-Aug. 19. Free. This year’s films take their cue from “The Autoconstrucción Suites,” the ongoing exhibition by Abraham Cruzvillegas, so it’s not out of line to expect some Mexican flavor – and perhaps music made on the spot from whatever musicians find? This is a golden opportunity to present some improvising musicians. Walker, what say you? Bands and films will be named in late May.

music and movies in the park
Courtesy of the Walker Art Center/Cameron Wittig
Returning in July: “Summer Music and Movies in Loring Park”

Merle Haggard is coming to the State Theatre on Friday, July 19. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but with the loss last week of George Jones at 81, you might think about catching Haggard this time around; he recently turned 76. Haggard will bring his band the Strangers. The last time Haggard came through town, with Kris Kristofferson in July 2012, they sold out. FMI and tickets ($63.50-$53.50).

Poet Billy Collins is due at the Pantages Theatre on Friday, Nov. 1. Collins served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001-2003; his last three collections have broken sales records for poetry. A poet at the Pantages? Many of Collins’ readings are SRO. He’s warm, charming, accessible, and often funny. Here’s an example. FMI and tickets ($40.50-$30.50).

Carl Flink, Ananya Chatterjea, and Aparna and Ranee Raswamy have been selected as 2012 McKnight Choreography Fellows. All will receive unrestricted $25,000 fellowships and residencies at nationally known programs in 2014. Flink (Black Label Movement) will spend six and a half weeks at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC. Chatterjea will spend a week with her company, Ananya Dance Theatre, at the Tofte Lake Center in northern Minnesota. Aparna and Ranee Ramaswamy (Ragamala Dance) will be in residence at the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography in Tallahassee, FL, for two weeks.

A new Minnesota musical opens off-Broadway in July. “Sasquatched! The Musical” by Minnesota composer and author Phil Darg has been selected for the New York Musical Theatre’s 2013 Next Link showcase. Darg interprets Bigfoot (his colloquial name) as an intelligent, gentle, loquacious and dignified creature. We’ll see what New Yorkers think about that.

For artists: the 2013 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Show is open for registration. (Confession: it opened April 1, but we fell behind the ball.) Start by reading the rules and regulations. Register here. Registration is required, is available online only, and closes at 4:30 p.m. sharp on Monday, July 1. $3,150 in additional prizes will be awarded. The Minnesota Museum of American Art will purchase one work from the juried exhibition for its permanent collection.

For artists: if you’re not using social media, you’re missing important opportunities to connect, engage, build your audience, and sell your stuff. On Wednesday afternoon, May 8, the Metropolitan Regional Art Council hosts “The Power of Social Media: Stories and Strategies from the Sector,” presented by Jamie Miller (Fast Horse, Paper Darts, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network) and Chris Oien (Minnesota Council on Foundations, Young Nonprofit Nonprofessionals Network). The workshop is free, but please register in advance. At MRAC, 2324 University Ave. W., Suite 114, St. Paul.

Our picks for the week

Jazz Appreciation Month culminates today with International Jazz Day. If you’re in Istanbul, we hope you’re attending the UNESCO-organized Global Concert featuring Herbie Hancock and friends including Terence Blanchard, Anat Cohen, Robert Glasper, Al Jarreau, Ramsey Lewis, Hugh Masekela, Branford Marsalis, Jean-Luc Ponty, Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, and the star-studded list goes on. Not in Turkey? You can stream the concert live on YouTube starting at 1 p.m. this afternoon. Tonight, you can hear live jazz at Hell’s Kitchen (Triosé, 6 p.m.), Café Maude on Penn (Joel Shapira, 7 p.m.), the Artists’ Quarter (Cory Wong Quartet, 7 p.m., followed by Dean Magraw, 9 p.m.), Jazz Central (Adam Meckler Orchestra, 8:30 p.m.), and the Amsterdam (Jack Brass Band, 9 p.m.).

Tonight at the Woman’s Club of Minneapolis: “Art Smart: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Buying Art.” Get the skinny from insiders. Bring questions for Sally Johnson, director of the Groveland Gallery; Anita Sue Kolman, co-owner of Kolman & Pryor Gallery; Jennifer Phelps, art director, Burnet Gallery at Le Méridien Chambers; and Ruth Ann Benson, chair of the gallery committee at the Woman’s Club. Heavy hors d’oeuvres. 6 p.m.-8 p.m. ($15). Reservations required; call 612-813-5300.

Tonight at the Ordway: Jessye Norman. The great American soprano celebrates the Schubert Club’s 130th anniversary with a tribute to American masters including George Gershwin and Duke Ellington. The only ones not standing for her final number, “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing,” will be those who have died in their seats from sheer happiness. A few tickets remain, including standing room ($99-$35).

Tonight at the American Swedish Institute: Cocktails at the Castle. Even the Swedes are glad the snow melted in time for the ASI’s version of Valborgsmässoafton, the annual European welcome to spring. Enjoy bonfires, live music, a DJ, food from FIKA, live art performances, a cash bar, and DIY decoupage, a nod to ASI’s ongoing exhibition of birchwood plaques. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets ($7). 18+.

Wednesday at Common Good Books: Ken Budd reads from “The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem.” Budd tells his personal story about traveling the world as a volunteer: in New Orleans after Katrina, in Costa Rica to teach English, in China to work with special-needs children, on the West Bank assisting refugees. Someone should have trimmed that subtitle, but Budd’s appearance promises to be enlightening and inspiring. 7 p.m. Free.

Thursday at Common Good Books (two nights in a row? It happens): Sarah Stonich reads from “Vacationland.” Stories set on a lake in northernmost Minnesota, from the best-selling author of “These Granite Islands.” 7 p.m. Free.

Wednesday and Thursday at the Dakota: Bill Frisell. See above.

mushroom painting
Courtesy of Art for Shelter
Art for Shelter raises funds for Simpson Housing Services

Thursday at the Burnet Gallery, Le Méridien Chambers: “Art 4 Shelter.” More than 1,000 original works of art, most priced at $30, will be offered for sale, with every penny of the proceeds going to Simpson Housing Services. It’s a party and a game of chance: Pieces will be hung randomly and refreshed throughout the evening, all will be signed only on the back, and you won’t learn whose art you’ve bought until you pay for it. So you might end up with something by a famous artist (Alec Soth, for example) or an unknown. Preview starts at 6 p.m., sale begins at 7 with the ring of a bell. Complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres. Cash, check, or credit card. FMI.

Thursday at Pangea World Theater: a staged reading of excerpts from “Sabra Falling,” a new play by Ismail Khalidi. Born in Beirut, raised in Chicago, Khalidi is a Palestinian-American playwright, actor, author and writer-in-residence for Mizna, an organization that promotes Arab-American literature. His latest play is set in the Sabra refugee camp in 1982, a time when Beirut was under siege. 7 p.m., 711 West Lake St., Minneapolis. $5 suggested donation.

Zenon celebrates 30th year with new works; new app for museums month

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How do you keep a dance company fresh and exciting for 30 years? By commissioning new works from both emerging and established choreographers, treating them equally, and taking chances while always keeping the audience in mind. Founded in 1982 and still led today by artistic director Linda Z. Andrews, Zenon Dance Company celebrates its 30th anniversary starting tonight with two weekends of signature pieces and cutting-edge world premieres.

Each weekend features a different program, and each program includes one dance with original live music. Tonight through Sunday (May 3-5), drummer JT Bates accompanies the world premiere of Brooklyn-based Uruguayan choreographer luciana achugar’s “Molten Substance,” in which four dancers put on blue jeans without using their hands. Next weekend (May 10–12), percussionist Peter O’Gorman reprises his score for Macalester dance program director Wynn Fricke’s “Wine Dark Sea,” which Zenon premiered last year to raves. Have you ever wondered how musicians work with choreographers? We did, so we asked Bates and O’Gorman to talk about their experience, process, and instrumentation. You can read our conversations here. Admittedly it’s all kind of nerdy, but we learned a lot.

This weekend’s program also includes works by Sean Curran (“Hard Bargain”), Mariusz Olszewski (“Hotel Tango, para Sharon”), and Netta Yerushalmy (“Hello, My Name Is Catherine”). Next weekend brings the world premiere of a new dance by Faye Driscoll (Mariana) and works by Olszewski (“Hotel Tango”) and Daniel Charon (“Storm”). The spring season is dedicated to veteran dancer Greg Waletski, who is retiring after 22 years with the company. He’s the wiry bald guy you can’t take your eyes off of. Actually, most Zenon dancers fit that description, except for the wiry bald part.

May is Minnesota Museums Month. Our fair state has hundreds of museums, and Explore Minnesota has an inviting, well-organized website with a Museum Finder that can help you locate them. (The site plays fast-and-loose with the definition of “art museums” by including commercial galleries, but that’s a minor quibble.) New for your smartphone: a free MN Museums app, developed by the Minnesota Association of Museums and the Minnesota Historical Society, available in the iTunes store and at Google Play. We spent about two seconds on it and found a ton of historic houses in and around Minneapolis. Cool! And a great use of Legacy funds. Thank you, Minnesota voters. 

matisse painting
Courtesy of the MIA
80 Matisse works are coming to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts next February.


We now know more about the Matisse exhibit coming to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in February 2014. It opens February 23 and closes May 18. It will feature approximately 80 works spanning six decades of the artist’s career. The Strib’s Mary Abbe gets down to details: we’ll see 32 paintings, 16 sculptures, and more than 30 works on paper including drawings, original prints and books. A complementary exhibit will feature selections from the 40 Matisses in the MIA.  

Get in on the ground floor of a museum in the making. This month the Minnesota Museum of American Art hosts a series of “Talk Back” dialogues on the new MMAA. What should a museum do? How can it best serve the needs of its community? How will it use its space? How can it make people feel welcome? On Thursday, May 16, museum innovator Nina Simon (“The Participatory Museum”) explores how MMAA can use the diverse artistic tastes of our community to inspire activities and programs that deliver unique arts experiences. Thursday, May 23: VJAArchitects principals Vincent James and Jennifer Yoos lead a conversation about the impact of architectural design idea. Thursday, May 30: Visual artist Seitu Jones introduces the topic of openness and diversity. All dialogues take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the MMAA Project Space, 332 N. Robert St., St. Paul. All are free. HuffPost once called the Rubin Museum of Art in New York “a museum that is interested in much more than itself.” Sounds like MMAA is heading in that direction.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the Walker will install a new work there in late June. Belgian artist Kris Martin’s “For Whom” (2012) will be dedicated to Martin Friedman, the former Walker director (1961-1990) who spearheaded the creation of the Garden, whose “Spoonbridge and Cherry” is now pretty much the symbol of Minneapolis.

The Jungle’s Bain Boehlke will direct a new play – at the Bryant Lake Bowl Theater. Thomas Ward’s “International Falls” is the story of a burned-out stand-up comedian and a hotel desk clerk trying to enjoy a one-night stand after a comedy show. It’s basically a tragic play full of jokes. Ward, who works as an actor and a playwright, claims it isn’t autobiographical, but it is personal. When he brought the script to Boehlke for an initial read, Boehlke thought it was so exciting that “it merited an immediate production.” We’d call that a thumbs-up. May 31-June 9. FMI and tickets ($12/$10).

Gerald Charles Dickens will play the role of his great-great-grandfather, the novelist Charles Dickens, in stage readings of a new play by Jeffrey Hatcher. The play is based on a simple retelling of the life of Christ that Dickens wrote for his children; he asked that it not be published while any of them were still living. Hatcher is calling his new play “Faith.” 7:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday, May 17-19, at the Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis. Tickets here, by phone at 612-874-1100, or at the door ($12/$10). 

Pillsbury House Theatre has announced its Naked Stages Fellows for 2013. Emily Zimmer, Moheb Soliman and Zainab Musa will take part in a seven-month development program that provides time, financial support and mentoring. In Zimmer’s “Three Figure$,” three women explore the poetics and problems of the financial crisis. Moheb Soliman’s project circumnavigates the Great Lakes by land. In “Enough,” Zaineb Musa examines her own current ethnic identity as a woman of African descent and challenges the audiences’ ideas of  “Black enough.” Each fellow receives $3,000, an additional $2,000 for other artists (directors, performers) and materials, and technical support in the theater. Performances take place in December. In April, Pillsbury House Theatre won the 2013 Sally Award for Initiative.

For actors, musicians, dancers, ensembles, street performers and stage combat performers: the Minnesota Renaissance Festival is holding auditions for the 2013 season on May 11 and 18 (Saturdays) from 12 p.m. – 4 p.m. at HUGE Theater (3037 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis). Callbacks will take place on Saturday, May 25. Email Renfest FMI and to schedule an audition time. The festival opens Saturday, Aug. 17 and ends Sunday, Sept. 29.

zenon photo
Photo by Jimmy Katz
Miguel Zenón will play with JazzMN next year.

The JazzMN Orchestra, Minnesota’s premier professional jazz ensemble, has announced its 2013–14 season of four concerts, each spotlighting a different aspect of room-filling big-band jazz. On Saturday evening, Oct. 5, the guest artist will be jazz (and classical) pianist Kenny Drew Jr. On Saturday, Nov. 9, JazzMN’s percussionist Rey Rivera will lead a tribute to Tito Puente, the “King of Latin Jazz,” with performances of Puente’s original transcripts. Sunday afternoon, March 16, 2014, will feature the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble New York Voices. The season will close on Saturday, April 26, with alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, a MacArthur and Guggenheim fellow whose original compositions frequently draw from the music of his native Puerto Rico. JazzMN was formed in 1998 by jazz educator and trumpeter Douglas Snapp; he still runs the joint. All concerts take place in the auditorium at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka. Season tickets are on sale now through May 31 at early bird prices. Visit the website or call 866-811-4111. Single tickets go on sale this summer.

Saturday (May 4) is International Star Wars Day (born, it’s said, because someone quipped “May the Fourth Be With You” and it stuck). Who’s doing what for this intergalactic occasion? Leave a comment here or on our facebook page.

On sale today: Patty Griffin at the Pantages (June 13), Paula Poundstone at the Guthrie (Oct. 14), Peter Frampton at the State (July 21), the 11-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Fitz (June 19), and single tix to Cameron Mackintosh’s new 25th Anniversary production of “Les Mis” (July 30-Aug. 4) at the Orpheum. Single tickets to Music in the Zoo concerts went on sale April 27 at the Electric Fetus and all Ticketmaster locations.

Our picks for the weekend

No snow. We pick no snow

Opens tonight at the Southern: The Moving Company’s “Out of the Pan Into the Fire.” A fairy tale about two children found in the garbage by an angel (or a bird? Or a liar?), written by and starring Jeune Lune alumns. With Steven Epp, Christina Baldwin, Nathan Keepers and Sam Kruger, directed by Dominique Serrand. Through May 26. FMI and tickets.

Opens tonight at the Gremlin: Mission Theatre Company’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” With an original score by local indie rockers Joe Gamble (Enemy Planes) and Al Church (Clustercuss & Al Church and State), this is not your high-school English teacher’s Shakespeare. May 3-6, 8-10. 8 p.m. FMI and tickets ($30-$15).

Tonight and tomorrow: Lyra Baroque Orchestra performs Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Are there really four? With Brazilian violin virtuoso Luís Otávio Santos, who was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Brazil in 2011. Tonight at 7:30: Zumbro Lutheran Church, Rochester. Tomorrow night at 8: Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University. FMI and tickets ($23/$6).

Tonight and tomorrow at the Artists’ Quarter: Pianist Bill Carrothers, with Billy Peterson on bass and Kenny Horst on drums. Carrothers will take the front off the AQ’s Yamaha, exchange the piano bench for a chair, kick off his shoes, and deliver two nights of profoundly intelligent and beautiful music. FMI. 9 p.m., tickets at the door ($12).

Tomorrow (Saturday) at the Loft“Motherhood and Words: Reading with Kate Hopper.” An annual reading of literary nonfiction, in which women write about motherhood. If you are a mom, if you have a mom, and (maybe) if you want to bring your mom to something besides Mother’s Day brunch, check it out. 7 p.m., free.

Sunday: the 39th Annual MayDay Parade. After two years of bad weather and decreased contributions, Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre had to struggle to keep this annual tradition alive. Cuts were made and the show will go on, but if MayDay matters to you, it’s especially important to support it this year. The parade begins at 1 p.m. at the corner of 25th St. East and Bloomington Ave. South in Minneapolis, travels south on Bloomington to 34th, and turns west towards Powderhorn Park, where it ends. The parade is followed by the MayDay Ceremony and Festival. FMI.

Sunday at Colonial Church in Edina: Before embarking on their 11-city 2013 Centennial Tour of Norway, the St. Olaf Choir will perform the tour program here: music by Bach, de Llenas and Grieg and works by composers with Minnesota connections. 4 p.m. FMI and tickets ($20/$10).

Opens Monday at the Soap Factory: “Art(ists) on the Verge 2012–2013.” The annual show of Jerome Emerging Artists Commissions, presented by Northern Lights. Four artists and one collective – Chris Houltberg, Sarah Julson, Asia Ward, Anthony Warnick, and the Mad King Thomas Collective –working experimentally at the intersection of art, technology, and digital culture, with a focus on interactive and/or participatory practices. Opening reception at 7 p.m. Monday. Through May 26, with artist talks on May 18 and 25 at 2 p.m. both days.

Monday at Icehouse: Peter Kogan "Cornucopia" CD release. Principal Timpani of the Minnesota Orchestra, Peter Kogan spent six years in New York City as a jazz drummer. You might have seen him perform at Vincent with Le Jazz Cool All Stars back when the orchestra wasn't locked out. He has recorded a CD of all originals with friends including trumpeter Charles Lazarus and bassist David Williamson, also orchestra musicians, and area jazzers Brian Grivna, Tom Ashworth, Mary Louise Knutson, Tommy Barbarella, Kenni Holman and Cory Wong. Someday we'll write a real review, but for now - wow. 7 p.m. Free or small cover (sorry, we're not sure which).

Monday at Christ Church Lutheran: "Intimate Voices."Accordo's season finale includes works by Sibelius, Kodaly and Dvorak. What a splendid season Accordo's fourth has been, under challenging circumstances; the members are Minnesota Orchestra and SPCO principal players (and a former SPCO player).  7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($24/$12).

Sense of urgency being felt over Minnesota Orchestra plight; local bands to play Target Field

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When will the Minnesota Orchestra lockout end, and how can it possibly end well? It’s said that in a successful negotiation, nobody’s happy with the result, but it’s hard to imagine a worse situation than we’re in right now, or a positive outcome. 

A photo of the musicians on their Facebook pageshows “ghosts” representing 24 unfilled positions– musicians who have left or are leaving. Last week, music director Osmo Vänskä threatened to quit, and Burt Hara announced that after 25 years as principal clarinet, he had taken a new position with the LA Philarmonic. (More top players will very likely follow.) A full-page “Open Letter to the People of Minnesota,” published in Sunday’s Star Tribune and paid for by the musicians, called for readers to contact board leaders Jon Campbell and Richard Davis and “urge them to step aside.” An editorial Saturday urged (that word again) Minnesota governor Mark Dayton “to use the influence of his office to prevent a catastrophe at Orchestra Hall.” On Saturday, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross, who once said that “the Minnesota Orchestra sounded, to my ears, like the greatest orchestra in the world,” wrote on his blog, “The Minnesota Orchestra … is veering toward catastrophe” (that word again) and wondered aloud if “the board and management actually wish to destroy the Minnesota Orchestra.”

Maybe it’s time for the people of Minnesota to pick up their torches and pitchforks. If this orchestra is lost, it will be a cultural catastrophe for our state, and if our leaders sit passively by and allow it to happen, shame on them.

In other news: the Old Log Theater will be sold, but it won’t be razed and replaced by cabins or condos. The theater and its property are being acquired by Excelsior Entertainment, owned by Greg and Marissa Frankenfield. He’s cofounder and CEO of Magenic Technologies; both are theater enthusiasts and producers who plan to continue the Old Log’s tradition of professional, live theater. So it’s less of a sale, more of a torch-passing, which should make a lot of people happy — including 95-year-old Don Stoltz, who bought the Old Log in 1946.

Minnesota now has three more James Beard Media Awards, which look kind of like Olympics medals. At Friday night’s ceremony in New York City, Andrew Zimmern took Outstanding Personality/Host for “Bizarre Foods America,” seen on the Travel Channel. Daniel Klein and Mirra Fine won Best Video Webcast, On Location for “The Perennial Plate,” their online weekly documentary series. MSP magazine food writer Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl lost to Mike Sula of the Chicago Reader for the MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. Don’t worry, Dara, there’s still plenty of time. On Saturday night, Zimmern and Tony Bourdain (who also won a Beard for his PBS program, “The Mind of a Chef”) will share the stage at the State in a program called “Guts and Glory.” Maybe they’ll wear their new medals. FMI and tickets.

tornado alley photo
Courtesy of the Science Museum of Minnesota
Omnifest: Big movies on big screens at the Science Museum

Love big movies on ginormous screens? From May 10-June 20, the Science Museum hosts its popular annual tradition, Omnifest. Five films will run in rotation on the Omnitheater’s 90-foot domed screen. This year’s films:“Tornado Alley,” about storm chasers, who are about as crazy as a bag of hammers; “Wild Ocean,” about what happens when billions of sardines migrate up the coast of South Africa toward a hungry crowd of sharks, dolphins, and whales; “Jane Goodall’s Wild Chimpanzees,” a Science Museum original production; “Lewis & Clark: Great Journey West,” a story of exploration and discovery; and “Antarctica,” a film about ice and snow, as if we need reminding. FMI and tickets.

The Minnesota Twins and K-TWIN are bringing local music to Target Field. Starting May 15, every Wednesday home game from May-August will feature Minnesota bands performing original songs live from the left-field balcony during pregame, inning breaks, and pitching changes. Here’s the line-up: May 15, The 4onthefloor; May 29, GB Leighton; June 12, Jack Knife and the Sharps; June 19, Hitchville; July 3, P.O.S.; July 31, Rocket Club; Aug. 14, Trampled by Turtles. The Aug. 20 game against the Kansas City Royals will present the winner of “The Sound Factor” contest, open to all local bands beginning May 15. FMI on that. 

The Minnesota Ballpark Authority voted last week to spend up to $300,000 on public art for spaces near Target Field where Hennepin County plans to build a transit interchange. It’s expected that a Public Art Selection Committee will soon be formed and a RFP sent out. The Strib had the story (a short one) on Sunday. 

Minnesota Citizens for the Artshas compiled a list of pending arts bills to care about. They include the Legacy and General Fund arts funding bills and three nonprofit tax issues: the ticket tax, and expansion of taxes to services done by nonprofits; street maintenance fees (will there be an exemption for nonprofits?); and a proposal to change how charitable giving is treated in Minnesota. One thing MCA would like you to do now: Send your legislator a quick email asking him or her to dedicate 50 percent of the Arts Legacy fund to the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Regional Arts Council. This way, that money will go towards arts activities in every corner of the state, which is what we voted for in the first place.

For artists: Springboard for the Arts is hiring an Artist Organizer to help the Cornerstone Group with the redevelopment of the Lyndale Garden Center site into a new Town Center for Richfield. The part-time position pays $30,000, with access to up to $25,000 for art projects. Information sessions are set for Monday, May 13 (6:30-8 p.m.) and Saturday, May 18 (10-11:30 a.m.) at 6334 Lyndale Ave. S. in Richfield. Download a job description, application and FAQs here.

May is National Chamber Music Month. Now that the SPCO lockout is settled and our magnificent chamber orchestra is officially playing again, you might want to act quickly to score your tickets to an upcoming concert.

April was National Poetry Month and National Jazz Month, and we’re idly wondering why there’s no National Bacon Month.

Our picks for the week

Tonight (Tuesday, May 7) at Pillsbury House Theatre: “Once in a Blue Moon.” Ten short plays written by professional playwrights (including Carlyle Brown and Jeffrey Hatcher), directed by professionals, and acted by top Twin Cities’ theater artists and neighborhood kids. Come for the plays, stay for the cookies and milk. 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., free.

Tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) in downtown St. Paul (St. Paul workers, this is for you): the Cherry Spoon Collective plays an outdoor concert on Kellogg Boulevard across from City Hall. Michelle Kinney, a member of the multi-generational, multi-instrumental, multi-genre mini-orchestra, says they’ll be “improvising and grooving like a rock band, but not playing rock music.” Plans are to amplify the string section through a solar power system operated by sound designer Tim Donahue; if skies are cloudy, they’ll add bicycle power. It’s an hour, it’s outdoors, it’s free, it’s Food Truck Wednesday. What else do you want from us? Noon – 1 p.m. UPDATE: Due to the chance of thunderstorms, the show will move to the Amsterdam at 6th and Wabasha.

Wednesday at the Fitz: Isabel Allende. A spring addition to the Talking Volumes series of literary conversations. Born in Chile, Allende is the author of “The House of the Spirits,” among many other novels and four memoirs; her latest is “Maya’s Notebook.” 7 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Wednesday at the Trylon:“Queen: Days of Our Lives.” Not the Queen, that Queen: Scaramouche, Galileo! Director Matt O’Casey tells the band’s colorful story in newly discovered archival film and interviews, with an extensive soundtrack of Queen hits and unheard studio outtakes. Part of the ongoing Sound Unseen festival of films about music. 7:15 and 9:15 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Thursday at the Bryant Lake Bowl: “Country Roads: Dennis Curley Sings the Music of John Denver.” Seriously, who doesn’t love John Denver? (“Take me home, country roads!”) Backed by members of local bands Blazing Saddles and the Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, Curley is wrapping up a two-month BLB engagement of old favorites and less familiar Denver tunes. Closes May 11. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Thursday at Shepherd of the Valley Church in Apple Valley: the SPCO performs their first official concert since the lockout ended. Thomas Zehetmair conducts; Steven Isserlis plays Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto. It’s a sure bet the audience will give them a very enthusiastic welcome. 7:30 p.m. Act quickly if you want tickets; only a few remained on Monday.

pottery bowl
Courtesy of the Minnesota Potters of the Upper St. Croix River
Pottery bowl by Delores Fortuna of Galena, IL.

Starts Friday: the 21st Annual Pottery Studio Tour & Sale by the Minnesota Potters of the Upper St. Croix River. Short version: pots! Seven local pottery studios will host 50 top potters from 15 states (and one from Scotland). All are within a one-hour drive of the Twin Cities; each is a short drive from the others. So depending on how involved you get in looking at pots, talking with potters, and checking out what other people are buying, it’s possible to visit all of the locations in one day. Or just take the weekend, as  a lot of collectors do. Whether it’s the cup that holds your morning coffee, the platter that serves your Thanksgiving turkey, or your favorite noodle bowl, handmade pottery is just better — like live music. Visit the link for a list of potters, a tour map, and lots of photos.

SPCO resumes concerts, brings back Coppock as president

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The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra last night gave its first official concert since the end of the lockout, and how sweet it was. At Shepherd of the Valley Church in Apple Valley, the musicians were greeted with a prolonged standing ovation and shouts of “Welcome back!” Led by the ebullient Thomas Zehetmair, they did what they do: play beautifully as one, something a group of freshly minted conservatory grads could never manage.

We heard a bright, tight “Figaro” overture; Schumann’s gorgeous cello concerto, with guest artist Steven Isserlis giving a passionate, ecstatic performance; Schoenberg’s “Ten Early Waltzes for String Orchestra;” and Mozart’s majestic Symphony No. 39. The Schoenberg was a surprise for two reasons. First, because of its lilting beauty (this is Schoenberg, that 12-tone guy?), and second, because it’s brand-new to the SPCO. They’re playing it for the first time this weekend, and they didn’t get the music until a little over a week ago. Through Sunday. FMI and (very few) tickets

On Tuesday, the SPCO announced that Bruce Coppock will return as the orchestra’s president and managing director starting in June. Coppock served in that role from 1999-2008, during which the SPCO’s audience grew to an all-time high, the annual fund increased by nearly 70 percent, the endowment fattened significantly, and the budget was balanced in all but one year (the recession of 2003). Coppock left in 2008 for health reasons; most recently he was managing director of the Cleveland Orchestra’s Miami residency.

When the musicians of the SPCO signed the contract ending their months-long lockout, they called for “the immediate commencement of a search for a new SPCO leader with proven orchestra management experience, and the vision and skill to substantially increase revenues.” Coppock is all that, plus he’s a musician who has performed extensively, including with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Times are different now, but still, he sounds pretty perfect. Dobson West, who served as interim president and board chair since March 2012, will continue as board chair.

The Minnesota Orchestra’s 2012-13 season is gone but will never be forgotten. It’s the season that will go down in infamy. The lost season, the season of our discontent. All remaining concerts, two weeks’ worth, were canceled Wednesday by the orchestra’s management, which means we won’t end the season with Osmo Vänskä conducting Sibelius and Dvorák and that bubbly mix of this-season’s-over, looking-forward-to-the-next-one melancholy and anticipation.

Meanwhile, management has proposed a three-weekend summer season of six concerts (including Vänskä, Sibelius and Dvorák) at the Ted Mann from July 20-Aug. 2, provided the contract is settled, and has asked the musicians back to the bargaining table on May 20, 21 and 22, with a federal mediator present. The musicians have responded through their attorney with a series of questions they want answered before they say yes. (A sampling: Will MOA [the Minnesota Orchestral Association] terminate the lockout? What is your projected Orchestra Hall reopening date? What are your plans regarding Music Director Vänskä’s announced resignation intentions?) Meanwhile, the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra will perform two free concerts on Sunday, May 19, of music by Bach, Vivaldi and Piazzola. Concertmaster Erin Keefe is among the featured soloists. At Temple Israel, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Free.

Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” opens tonight. Get a little background on one of St. Paul’s favorite sons with a three-minute video from the Minnesota Historical Society. Or watch the video, read the book, and skip the movie. Do we really want to see Leonardo DiCaprio in 3-D?

trampled by turtles photo
Courtesy of Minnesota State Fair/Pieter M. van Hattem
MN Music-on-a-Stick at the State Fair Grandstand will feature Trampled by Turtles (above), Mason Jennings and the Chalice.

More State Fair Grandstand goodness: Three new shows have been added to the line-up. Monday, Aug. 26: The Happy Together TourThe Turtles with Flo & Eddie, Chuck Negron (Three Dog Night), Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere & the Raiders). A sequential series of blasts from the past. Thursday, Aug. 22: Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller and Kevin Nealon from SNL. Friday, Aug. 30: MN Music-on-a-Stick. With Trampled by Turtles, Mason Jennings, and the Chalice (so far; more artists TBA). Tickets to all go on sale Saturday, May 18.

On sale at 10 a.m. today: Diana Ross at the Orpheum, Wednesday, Aug. 28. That’s MISS Ross. FMI and tickets.

Our picks for the weekend

Tonight (Friday, May 10) at Burnet Gallery, Le Méridien Chambers: “Inner Workings” solo exhibition by HOTTEA opens. City Pages named HOTTEA (Eric Rieger) Best Street Artist for 2013. Maybe you saw the large piece he created for the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for last year’s Northern Spark. His first solo show is a collective self-portrait. Nine different pieces, including one you crawl into, form a rough chronological narrative. Opening reception 6 – 9 p.m. Free. Through July 7. FMI.

street installation
Courtesy of the Burnet Gallery
A street installation in New York City by HOTTEA (Eric Rieger).

Tonight at the Lagoon: “Angels’ Share” opens. Ken Loach’s bittersweet comedy about a high-stakes crime and a young Glaswegian hoodlum with a good nose opened this year’s Film Fest. It’s terrific. Here’s the trailer. FMI.

Tonight at the St. Anthony Main Theatre: “Caesar Must Die” returns after selling out multiple screenings during Film Fest. It’s a movie about staging Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” in a prison in modern-day Rome. We’re guessing there are no money shots of the Spanish Steps. Through Thursday, May 16. TrailerFMI and tickets.

Tonight through Sunday at the Cowles: Zenon Dance continues its 30th anniversary season with Faye Driscoll’s “Mariana,” Wynne Fricke’s “Wine Dark Sea” (with live percussion by Peter O’Gorman), Mariusz Olszewski’s “Hotel Tango (para Sharon),” and Daniel Charon’s (Storm). These will be company member Greg Waletski’s final performances. Here’s our interview with Peter O’Gorman about what it was like to work with FrickeFMI and tickets.

Tonight at Studio Z in Lowertown: Xavier Charles/Frederic Blondy/Guylain Cosseron Trio, Nick Hennies. Part of Jesse Goins’ “Crow with No Mouth” series of electro-acoustic improvisations. For the adventuresome and the big-eared. 8 p.m. Read what Goins has to sayFMI and tickets.

caviani photo
Photo by John Whiting
Laura Caviani

Saturday at Hopkins Center for the Arts: Laura Caviani: From Bach to Bop. Jazz pianist Caviani is one of the shining stars of our local scene, knowing for her too infrequent performances of music by Thelonious Monk. She’s classically trained, and this concert presents the best of both worlds: works by Schumann, Chopin, Bach, Stravinsky and more arranged for a jazz ensemble including Dave Hagedorn on vibes, Adam Meckler on trumpet, David Milne on saxophone, Phil Hey on drums, and Chris Bates on bass. 8 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Saturday at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds Eco Experience Building (formerly the Progress Center): Craftstravaganza. The well-curated indie craft show, now in its eighth year, features more than 90 artists with all kinds of things to bring home and admire: ceramics, glass, leather, prints, candles, candies, jewelry, paper. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.. 1265 Snelling Ave. Free admission. FMI including list of vendors.

MN Orchestra situation 'particularly agonizing and seemingly inexplicable'

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The New York Times has taken a particular interest in the Minnesota Orchestra. In an article published Sunday, James Oestreich reported on the latest developments: the cancellation of the rest of the 2012-13 season, Osmo Vänskä’s threat to quit, Burt Hara’s imminent departure. “While no one can question the need for financial prudence in an economy still rife with uncertainties,” Oestreich wrote, “the present course seems bent on destroying the institution in order to save it.” He called our situation “particularly agonizing and seemingly inexplicable,” the orchestra “an ensemble poised on the cusp of certifiable greatness” and Hara’s loss “immense.” And he noted, rather sternly, that “it is long past time for reasonable adults to sit down in a room and talk: if need be, in company with some friend of the orchestra, like the mayor or the chief executive of one of the city’s flagship corporations.”

Why has no one stepped forward – no friend of the orchestra, no person in power, no successor to philanthropist Kenneth Dayton? A May 4 editorial in the Star Tribune asked readers to “try to name a civic leader who could help broker a settlement in the bitter orchestra dispute.” Is there really, truly no one? How lame and sad is that?

In response to the musicians’ open letter to the people of Minnesota, published in the Star Tribune on Sunday, May 5, the orchestra board and management published its own letter on Saturday restating its position, summarizing the latest contract offer, and comparing the salaries, work weeks, time off, sick pay, and medical insurance of musicians under the new contract with those of the “average U.S. worker,” which the orchestra defines as professionals with PhDs and master's degrees. The Times compared apples with apples: “Players’ annual base salary would be cut from $113,000 to $78,000. (By comparison, the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony emerged from a recent strike and Carnegie cancellation with a base salary of $148,000.)”

Today is Tim Gihring’s last day at Minnesota Monthly. “After 10 years, hundreds of shows, boatloads of carp, and two still-missing ruby slippers,” he wrote on Facebook, “I’m moving on to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, where I’ll work in the Audience Engagement division as its new ‘brand narrator.’” MnMo’s senior arts writer, Gihring had served as acting editor after editor Joel Hoekstra’s departure in January to start his own business. The magazine's masthead is looking a bit thin. Gihring’s “Weekend Best Bets” ran in MinnPost on Thursdays during 2012.

In February, the Schubert Club’s artistic and executive director Barry Kempton told MinnPost, “We’re looking at programs aimed at an audience which might be attracted to a less formal ambiance.” We now know a bit more about that. On Monday, the Schubert Club announced that it will present a new series of concerts called “Schubert Mix” at Aria (the former Jeune Lune) starting in January 2014. Some will be in partnership with the SPCO’s Liquid Music series and the American Composers Forum. The line-up will come out later this month. “Our idea behind Schubert Club Mix is to relax our presentation style and the ambiance of the venue without at all compromising the quality of the music-making,” Kempton said in a press release. Aria founder Peter Remes added, “It has been our vision to develop this unique building as a destination for arts and culture." 

st john
Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Benedetto da Rovezzano, Saint John the
Baptist, circa 1505

You might have heard about this by now, but in case you missed it: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has made a new acquisition with a thrilling backstory.“St. John the Baptist,” a Renaissance bust by Benedetto da Rovezzano, a contemporary of da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, will be the earliest Renaissance sculpture in the MIA’s collection. During WWII, it was one of more than 6,000 masterpieces looted by the Nazis, hidden in Austria’s Altaussee salt mines and intended for Hitler’s future Führermuseum. When it became clear that the the Axis would lose the war, Hitler’s second-in-command ordered the mines destroyed. Instead, the miners saved it (and the art), and the Monuments Men of the U.S. Army later returned the bust to the Netherlands, where it was bought by a private collector. In a cosmic-justice twist, “St. John the Baptist” was put on display last Wednesday, the 68th anniversary of V-E Day.

The McKnight Artist Fellowship for Photographers, once a separate program administered by mnartists.org, has been folded into the McKnight Artist Fellowships Program for Visual Artists, administered by MCAD. “Photography remains a notably distinct discipline,” McKnight arts program director Vickie Benson said in a press release, “but it also has a logical home today within the broader visual arts.” Benson noted that “similar discipline-specific grant programs nationally consider these artists increasingly within one comprehensive group.” Will that mean fewer prized McKnight fellowships overall? “There is no intent to reduce the total number of fellowships,” McKnight communications director Tim Hanrahan told MinnPost. “We’re trying to put together the best program that meets the broadest needs. At this point, the program is still in development. This is not a cutback." 

If you love big-band music, don’t leave the Twin Cities for the next few months. Thirty-six big bands are performing 96 concerts in 41 parks, breaking all previous records of big-band insanity. A couple have already happened, but you can jump on the train as soon as next Tuesday (May 21), when the Minneapolis Southwest High School Big Band and Combos perform at the Lake Harriet Bandstand starting at 6:30 p.m. Go here for a complete list of concerts, places, and times through September 8

scene from an illiad
Photo by Aaron Fenster
Stephen Yoakam (The Poet) in the Guthrie Theater's production of An Iliad, adapted from Homer by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, translation by Robert Fagles.

Five reasons to see “An Iliad” at the Guthrie: 1) Playwrights Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare have made Homer’s 3,000-year-old epic poem about the Trojan War immediate and timely – partly by adding contemporary language and references (describing Achilles as “addicted to rage” and soldiers in the Greek ships as “boys from San Diego, from Lawrence, Kansas, from the Florida Panhandle”), partly by treating Robert Fagles’ famed translation as a living, breathing thing. 2) This is a one-man show, and Stephen Yoakam’s performance as the itinerant poet is spellbinding. He’s serious and funny, passionate and matter-of-fact, weary and anguished by the carnage he relates. When he sings of dead Hector’s wife, ululating her grief on the walls of Troy, it’s almost too much to bear. 3) The set, the sound, the staging and the lighting work in perfect harmony to pull you in. At first, the set is confusing – is that a pond? What’s the metal scaffolding for? – but then it all makes sense. 4) The beginning is wonderful. There's no wall (at first) between the theater and the lobby. We see the bar, the ushers, the light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Then an elevator opens and Yoakam walks out. 5) The long litany of wars the poet recites toward the end of the play – from the devastation of Sumer far in the past to the destruction of Kabul in our own time – is appalling and sobering. As he says at the start, "Every time I sing the song, I hope it's the last time." But he knows it won't be, and so do we. There's a lot to think about as you walk out of the theater into the sweet spring night. Through May 26. FMI and tickets.

Our picks for the week and weekend

Artscape is taking Friday off, so here’s what we like for the next several days.

Tonight (Tuesday, May 14): "Love Is Law" Concert on Ecolab Plaza. Governor Dayton will sign the Freedom to Marry Bill at approximately 6 p.m. And then it's party time. Follow the Minnesota Freedom Band from the Capitol lawn to Ecolab Plaza in downtown St. Paul for a night of celebration with Mayor Chris Coleman and special guests, with live music by Jack Brass Band, DJ Jake Rudh, H$B, Zoo Animal, P.O.S., the Twin Cities Gay Men's Chorus, and Chan Pohling and Friends. Food and beverage will be available for purchase. Approximately 6 - 10:15 p.m. Free.

Thursday at the TU Dance Center: Preview TU’s upcoming spring concert (May 31-June 2) at an in-studio showing. See excerpts from three world premieres including works by company co-artistic director Uri Sands and New York choreographer Camille A. Brown. Wine and cheese reception at 5 p.m, program at 5:45. 2121 University Ave. West, St. Paul. Free.

Thursday and Friday at Hopkins Center for the Arts: Armistead Maupin. In a free-spirited talk entitled "Untold Tales," Maupin reveals the real-life inspirations for "Tales of the City." The Pen Pals season finale. Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 11 a.m. FMI and tickets.

Thursday-Saturday at the Walker: Elevator Repair Service. The New York theater collective that brought us “Gatz,” the critically acclaimed six-hour retelling of “The Great Gatsby,” returns to the McGuire Theater with its latest work: “Fondly, Collette Richland,” experimental playwright Sibyl Kempson’s surreal story about a small-town couple’s island vacation. ERS is previewing “Fondly” here; it’s a Walker commission, and these are the first public performances. FMI and tickets.

new work ers
Photo by Ariana Smart Truman
Elevator Repair Service is returning to the Walker.

Friday at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts: “Directed: The Intersection of Book, Film and Visual Narrative.” Book arts meet film in an exhibition of work by more than 70 artists from across disciplines and around the world. Films and videos present narratives in book-like ways; artists’ books use cinematic storytelling practices like montage, close-ups, fades, slow motion, flashbacks, and split screens. Opening reception 6-9 p.m. Through Aug. 4. Free. FMI.

Friday at the History Center: RetroRama. Some things never go out of style, like a good party, the perfect pair of jeans, or an heirloom hand-knit sweater. RetroRama celebrates the classics with an expanded fashion show DJ’ed by Jake Rudh featuring vintage clothes and original work by local designers. Wear something classic, practice your walk, and you can strut down the runway, too. The evening also includes carnival games by Lili’s Burlesque, pop-up boutiques, a make-your-own-charm-bracelet-or-tie-clip craft activity, cocktail demonstrations, and demos on the lost art of the old-fashioned shave. 8-11 p.m. Make it a night and head for the afterparty at the Amsterdam. 10:30 p.m.-2 a.m. FMI and tickets ($25/$20).

Friday-Sunday in Northeast Minneapolis: Art-A-Whirl. The 18th year of America’s largest open studio tour. See work by more than 500 artists in over 70 studio buildings, art galleries, homes, storefronts, businesses, and restaurants throughout the city’s arts district. View installations and demonstrations, hear live music, eat, drink, and people-watch; more than 30,000 art lovers are expected to attend. Plan your visit with the Artist Directory and Guide. (Pick up a free copy at any of the information booths.) Download a free Metro Transit pass and avoid parking hassles, then take the free trolleys from place to place. FMI.

Friday-Sunday at the State Fair Grounds: Art on a Line – Group Show of Midwest Watermedia Artists. Now in its 11th year, this is the single largest show of watermedia art in the upper Midwest, featuring over 4,500 works of original art by more than 90 artists. (Watermedia art = traditional watercolor and other types of water-based media including acrylic, gesso, gouache, ink, and some collage.) All three days will feature door prizes of original art and painting demonstrations. 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sunday. At the Fine Arts Building. Free. FMI.

Friday-Sunday at Studio Z: “Early Inspirations.” The baroque chamber music ensemble Flying Forms and the new music chamber ensemble Zeitgeist are neighbors on the second floor of the Northwestern Building in Lowertown. This weekend, they’ll come together in concert. Flying Forms (Tami Morse, harpsichord; Marc Levine, baroque violin) will play new work written for its instruments; Zeitgeist (Heather Barringer and Patti Cudd, percussion; Pat O’Keefe, woodwinds; Shannon Wettstein, piano) will perform new work inspired by music of the Renaissance and Baroque. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. $10. Tickets here.

Saturday at the Ordway: Sing-A-Long Sound of Music. Local cabaret star and force of nature Erin Schwab hosts one of our favorite things (like raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens). The film screens, the audience sings along, and everyone goes home happy. Noon and 6:30 p.m at the Ordway. FMI and tickets (limited).

Saturday at the Steeple Center in Rosemount: Jazz at the Steeple Center. The Rosemount Area Arts Council is launching a new jazz series with a concert by jazz guitarist Paul Renz and Broadway flutist Anders Bostrom. Doors at 7 p.m., music at 8. 14375 South Robert Trail, in the former St. Joseph’s Church building. Tickets ($15-$10) at the door.

Saturday and Sunday in downtown Stillwater: Rivertown Art Festival. Now in its 36th year, the St. Croix Valley’s largest art fair features more than 100 local artists and vendors. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in Lowell Park. FMI.

Sunday at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church: Dave Brubeck’s ”Gates of Justice.” This concert of tolerance and compassion is the annual benefit for the Dignity Center, an outreach ministry that offers support, opportunity, and resources to persons in need on their path to self-sufficiency. Brubeck, the great jazz pianist and composer who died last December at 91, wrote “Gates of Justice” in 1969, shortly after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. With the HAUMC Choir and Brass Orchestra, Laura Caviani on piano, Chris Bates on bass, Dave Schmalenberger on drums, and James Ahrens and Elwyn Fraser on vocals, all directed by William Mathis. FMI and tickets ($35).

Remembering Sue McLean: 'Live music is good for your soul'

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We were deeply saddened to learn that concert promoter Sue McLean died Friday from cancer. She was 63. We saw many of her concerts over the years at the Guthrie, the Zoo and the O’Shaughnessy and were utterly charmed by her on the few occasions we met. And we loved that she was here among us: the world’s most successful independent female concert promoter, an example of doing well by doing what you love in a field of mostly men. Jon Bream wrote a tender remembrance of her for the Star Tribune; read it online and watch a video of McLean recalling some of her favorite musicians and bands. Her niece, Patricia McLean, will take over the business and the shows will go on. Think of Sue this summer as you enjoy music under the stars at the Minnesota Zoo, a concert at the Guthrie, and/or the Basilica Block Party. As she liked to say, “Live music is good for your soul.” Mass of Christian Burial Friday, May 24, 11 a.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary. Visitation at the church before the mass, reception after.

We returned from a short break to find a huge heap of arts news and season announcements – so many that we’ll save some for Friday.

After a challenging time that began last September with staff cuts and the suspension of its programing, Penumbra Theatre has announced a full and enticing 2013-14 season that includes the return of the“Black Nativity” holiday concert; a three-day festival of student performances; the Claude Edison Purdy Individual Artist Festival, named for a founding member of Penumbra, featuring work by James T. Alfred and Debra Ehrhardt; “The Ballad of Emmett Till,” written by Ifa Bayeza and directed by Talvin Wilks, about the brutal murder of a 14-year-old boy in Mississippi in 1955; and “The Mountaintop” by Katori Hall, an intimate fictional portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the eve of his death, directed by founder and artistic director Lou Bellamy and presented at the Guthrie. The season also includes “Let’s Talk Theatre,” “Bookends” and “Reel Talk” events hosted by associate artistic director Sarah Bellamy. FMI and tickets. Welcome back, Penumbra.

The Minnesota Chorale is hurting. Almost all of its earned income stems from performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, which, as we all know by now, has been locked out for the entire 2012-13 season. With its survival at stake, the 40-year-old Chorale has slashed staff hours and pay by 50 percent effective July 1, reductions that will stay in place until the lockout ends. Still another reason for management and musicians to get back to the table pronto.

We’re trying to imagine hateful, horrid Pete Campbell of “Mad Men” as romantic heartthrob Mr. Darcy of “Pride and Prejudice,” and it’s hard. Really hard. But wait: Vincent Kartheiser succeeds in making Campbell an icky, manipulative, sneering, sexist jerk because he’s a good actor. So maybe he can pull off Darcy after all. The Guthrie just cast him in that plum role, and we can see how he does it starting July 6, when the previews begin. Minnesota native Kartheiser first trod the (old) Guthrie’s boards at age 7 as Tiny Tim in “A Christmas Carol.” Based on the novel by Jane Austen, adapted for the stage by Simon Reade, directed by Joe Dowling, “P&P” is the final show of the Guthrie’s 50th anniversary season. Opens July 12, runs through Aug. 31. FMI and tickets.

mad men still
Courtesy of AMC
Vincent Kartheiser as Pete Campbell in "Mad Men"

The American Composers Forum on Friday announced the 2013 McKnight Composer Fellows. Four Minnesota artists will each receive $25,000 in unrestricted funds; two visiting composers will receive $15,000 each. This year’s fellows are St. Paul jazz/classical composer/pianist Randy Bauer; Maple Grove’s Scott Miller, a composer of electroacoustic, orchestra, chamber, choral and multimedia works; composer and percussionist Joshua Musikantow of St. Paul; and Minneapolis composer David Evan Thomas, who has written (so far) music for orchestra and wind ensemble, 40 chamber works, numerous choral works, keyboard pieces and an opera. Philadelphia’s Chris Coyle will lead music appreciation and hands-on engagement workshops at day-care centers in Minneapolis that serve people with mental and intellectual disabilities; Jin Hi Kim of Bridgeport, CT, will be in residence at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, conducting Cross-Cultural Music Meditation workshops.

Tradition, tradition! Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is bringing back an old friend. “Fiddler on the Roof,” CDT’s most-requested show and a nine-time Tony winner, will return Sept. 27 and run through Jan. 25, 2014. Did you know its title comes from Marc Chagall’s painting “The Fiddler”? News to us. “Fiddler” was last seen on Chanhassen's main stage in 1993, 20 years ago, when it marked the theater's 25th anniversary. Which makes this CDT’s 45th year. Group tickets are now on sale; call 952-934-1547.

Club Book, the series of free readings by bestselling, award-winning authors, has unveiled its Summer/Fall 2013 season. June 5: poet and memoirist Li-Young Lee (“The Winged Seed,” “The City in Which I Love You”). June 27: novelist and children’s book author Carl Hiaasen (“Strip Tease,” “Bad Monkey”). Aug. 17: young adult novelist Will Alexander (“Goblin Secrets,” winner of the 2012 National Book Award). Sept. 17: writer and blogger Emily Rapp (“Poster Child,” the blog “Little Seal”). Sept. 26: investigative journalist Eric Schlosser (“Fast Food Nation”). Oct. 9: memoirist, blogger, and organic farmer Atina Diffley (“Turn Here Sweet Corn”). Oct. 14: novelist Sarah Stonich (“The Ice Chorus,” “These Granite Islands”). Oct. 24: crime novelist Erin Hart (“Haunted Ground,” “The Book of Killowen”) and accordionist Paddy O’Brien. Nov. 4: artist and MinnPost columnist Andy Sturdevant (“Potluck Supper With Meeting to Follow,” to be published by Coffee House Press this fall). Dec. 2: Poet Ed Bok Lee. Events are scheduled at various times in locations (mostly libraries) throughout the metro area. FMI.

The Old Log Theater, which was recently acquired by software developer and theater buff Greg Frankenfield and his wife, Marissa, has announced its eighth annual Sounds for Summer series of a dozen concerts starting June 3 and ending Aug. 19. Highlights include an evening with Jearlyn Steele (June 10), the Monroe Crossing Buegrass Band (June 24), Sopranorama! with Janis Hardy, Maria Jette and Molly Sue McDonald (July 1), the Minnesota Jazz All Stars (Aug. 5), and Bruce Henry’s tribute to Steve Wonder (Aug. 19). All concerts are on Mondays at 7:30. Let’s hope the new owners update the website soon to include information about the series.

architecture photo
Photo by Paul Kelly
Roald Gunderson designed Myrick Hixon EcoPark Nature Center in LaCrosse, Wis.

Minnesota-trained, Wisconsin-based architect Roald Gundersen has received the 2013 Margot Siegel Design Award given by the Goldstein Museum of Design. Founder, co-owner and principal architect of WholeTrees Architecture + Structures in Stoddard, WI, Gunderson received his B.S. in Architecture and Environmental Science from the University of Minnesota in 1984. His specialty is exploring and experimenting with natural building and the architecture of small-diameter round timber. He will be presented with the $2,000 award on May 29 in Florida.

Tour the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden on your computer, smart phone or tablet. The Walker last week launched a new website that helps you navigate the Garden using GPS, learn about the sculptures on view, explore histories of the Garden’s past, and hear personal reflections on its iconic status by Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and others. The Walker is calling the mobile version a “downloadable app,” which it isn’t, not exactly – it’s a mobile-optimized version of the website, but we won’t quibble too much because it’s cool and it works. Take a look at the website first, and if you want it on the go, type walkerart.org/garden into the browser on your phone or tablet, then add the site to your home screen (you’ll be prompted to do so). Easy breezy.

With longtime Twin Cities arts journalist Matt Peiken leaving for a new job in Cincinnati, his informative, innovative and useful classical music website, MNuet, is up for sale. Launched in Sept. 2012 as a partnership with member artists/organizations, functioning as an online magazine and calendar, MNuet has followed the orchestra lockouts and much more. Peiken will discontinue publishing at the end of May. Anyone want to step up and make this happen? Contact Peiken by email.

Our picks for the week

Tonight at Wayzata Community Church:¡Cantare! Community Concert. Each year since 2008, VocalEssence has paired select Twin Cities choral youth groups with composers-in-residence from Mexico to study that nation’s musical heritage and compose original pieces. This year’s students collaborated with Mexican composers Gerardo Cárdenas and Novelli Jurado. The 130-voice VocalEssence Chorus will join students from schools in Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, St. Anthony, Blaine and Hopkins for a musical celebration that includes two world premiere performances. 6 p.m. (elementary school choirs) and 8 p.m. (high school choirs). Free. Tickets are available at the church, the Consulate of Mexico in St. Paul, Latino Communications Network in Minneapolis and the Neighborhood House at Wellstone Center in St. Paul.

Tonight at the Soap Factory: the first event in the gallery’s new music series, Sound On-Site, which promises “the best in experimental live music, sound, and DJs – both local and international – across a wide range of genres.” Called “Rock Forward: A Night of Music to Support the Fight Against Anti-LGBTQ Violence,” tonight's concert brings together a stellar line-up for a good cause. Dane Stauffer will host Maria & Razz & The Baptism River Ramblers, Annie and the Bang Bang, FAYE Goulet, Chan Poling, Marc Perlman, Jacques Waits, Hugo Klaers and special guest Wendy Lewis. Proceeds benefit performer Ron Spiess, who is recovering from a recent assault. Doors at 6:30, show at 7. Tickets here ($12). 

Tonight at the Charles A. Lindbergh Historic Site in Little Falls: “Lindbergh: The Shocking, Turbulent Life of America’s Lone Eagle.” Screening on the 86th anniversary of Lindy’s historic flight, the award-winning documentary traces his life in archival footage, photographs, and interviews with family members. 7 p.m., free. 1620 Lindbergh Dr. S., Little Falls.

Tonight at the Dakota: Charles Lazarus Quartet with Connie Evingson. Take Minnesota Orchestra trumpeter Lazarus, add Tommy Barbarella on piano, Jeff Bailey on bass, and Craig Hara on drums, top it off with Evingson's silky, swinging voice and impeccable phrasing, and what you have is a tasty night of music in a beautiful setting. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets ($25).

spin
Courtesy of Thomas Barry Fine Arts
"Spin" by Judy Onofrio. Opening reception is Thursday.

Wednesday at the Cedar: Pokey LaFarge. Born Andrew Heissler in Bloomington, IL, nicknamed Pokey by his mom, LaFarge plays early 20th-century roots-style music with brio and without irony. We checked him out because we like his name, ended up watching his Tiny Desk concert for NPR, and now we're kind of hooked. His next album comes out in June on Jack Black's label. Doors at 7 p.m., music at 7:30. Al Scorch opens. FMI and tickets ($12-$15).

Wednesday at the Black Dog: Lowertown Reading Jam. The Saint Paul Almanac recently won a Midwest Book Award in the Culture category. On Wednesday, its 2012-13 season of Lowertown Reading Jams continues with “If You See Something, Say Something,” an evening of “suspicious poetry and drumming.” Hosted by Mizna, the Twin Cities’ Arab literary arts organization, it will feature spoken word and poetry performed by Arab-American and Muslim writers including Robert Fared Karimi, Moheb Soliman, and Kathy Haddad. 7 p.m. All ages, no cover, donations accepted.

Opening Thursday at Thomas Barry Fine Arts: “Judy Onofrio: Full Circle.” Onofrio is known for her lively, colorful, lavishly embellished mixed-media sculptures. Her new work is radically different. Made from found animal bones, these abstracted assemblages are powerful, fragile, and compelling. Opening reception 6:30-9 p.m. Through Aug. 29. Exhibition hours “by appointment or chance.” 


New seasons set for SPCO, Walker, Latté Da, Cowles; Guthrie extends 'An Iliad'

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Someone must have shouted “Go!” at the SPCO offices moments after the musicians ratified their new contract on April 29. In record time, less than a month after the end of a 191-day lockout, the orchestra has announced its 2013-14 season: 122 concerts in 13 venues throughout the Twin Cities and surrounding areas, including a new neighborhood series at Saint Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi. Four of the orchestra's five artistic partners – Roberto Abbado, Edo de Waart, Christian Zacharias and Thomas Zehetmair – are returning; soprano Dawn Upshaw, who served as an artistic partner for six seasons, has retired from that role but will be back to perform.

The new season opens Sept. 6, with a program that includes Beethoven’s Fifth, and ends June 8, 2014, with Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony. In between are six world premieres, all SPCO commissions or co-commissions, including a new concerto for string quartet and chamber orchestra by Kevin Puts, whose “Silent Night” (for the Minnesota Opera) won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize; a centennial celebration of Benjamin Britten; copious Baroque, including Bach’s “Brandenburgs,” Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” and Handel’s “Messiah” (at the Basilica of St. Mary); the return of trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger and pianist Jeremy Denk; and the SPCO debuts of violist Paul Neubauer and the Miró String Quartet. The season is front-loaded with masterworks from Beethoven’s “heroic” period; following the Fifth (on Sept. 6-8), de Waart will lead the “Pastoral” (Sept. 13-15) and Symphony No. 4 (Sept. 19-21), after which Christian Zacharias will perform the “Emperor” Concerto (Sept. 26-29).

Season ticket packages are available online or by phone at 651-292-1144. You may request a brochure by email. All tickets are $10, $25 and $40; more than 80 percent are $25 or less. Concert memberships are still only $5/month for an unlimited number of concerts. SPCO management calls its pricing strategy a “continued commitment to accessibility.” We think SPCO tickets are underpriced, which feeds the public perception that classical music should be cheap and makes it more difficult for other arts organizations to charge what they need for their events. On the other hand, at these prices, there’s no excuse not to hear this wonderful orchestra as often as you can.

Next Friday, the still locked-out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra will present a concert called “Catch Them While You Can: An Evening of Chamber Music.” Why the unusual title? Because it features musicians who soon will be leaving us: principal clarinet Burt Hara, who recently won the position of associate principal clarinet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; principal second violin Gina DiBello, now a member of the first violin section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; cellist Pitnarry Shin, whose husband, SPCO principal second violin Kyu-Young Kim, has joined the New York Philharmonic; and principal viola Tom Turner. 

MinnPost reader Amy Adams, who’s been following the lockout from Oregon, writes: “Tom’s been subbing at the San Diego Symphony for a couple of months now, and they’ve started listing him as ‘acting principal viola’ on their website. So, that’s another significant blow to the artistic roster of the Minnesota Orchestra, in my opinion.” Ours, too. See “Catch Them While You Can” on May 31, 8 p.m., at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 4201 Sheridan Ave. S., Minneapolis. FMI. Call 612-920-5440 for tickets ($25 and $50; children free).

cocorosie
Photo by Rodrigo Jardon
Art-folk duo CocoRosie plays the Walker October 19.

Reading about the Walker’s new Performing Arts season is always like opening a Christmas present from someone who knows how to shop, spares no expense, and has a fantastically active imagination. The season invariably offers three or four events that make us jump up and down, and the others are intriguing or provocative enough that we want to give them a try. Performing Arts curator Philip Bither often surprises and rarely disappoints. The 2013-14 season has something for anyone interested in contemporary dance, theater and/or music. Things we like a lot: the Nature Theater of Oklahoma’s “Life and Times: Episode 1,” based on a marathon phone conversation about the early life memories of an everyday person, sung in a pop-meets-chamber-opera style (Sept. 26-28); “The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller,” a “live documentary” featuring a cinematic narration by filmmaker Sam Green and a live soundtrack by Yo La Tengo; the art-folk duo CocoRosie, whose songs are described as “playful yet ominous” (Oct. 19); the return of cellist/composer Erik Friedlander, last seen at April's John Zorn-a-thon, this time with art photographer Mitch Epstein (Nov. 1) and his images of U.S. energy production and consumption; Uruguayan choreographer luciana achugar’s “Otro Teatro,” including dancers from Zenon Dance (Feb. 27-March 1, 2014);  the Trisha Brown Dance Company’s farewell tour (March 12-15); two nights with the brilliant jazz pianist Brad Mehldau (Apr. 8-9), last seen at the Walker in 2010 with the SPCO; and “Song of the Jasmine,” a world premiere/Walker commission by Ragamala Dance and composer/saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, who recently won a prestigious Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. Explore the whole season here, and plan to attend the season preview at the Walker on Sept. 5.

Is it already time for the Cowles’ third season? It seems like yesterday that the refurbished 500-seat Goodale Theater opened. This year’s performers include the Minnesota Concert Opera (“The Mini-Ring”), Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum, Cantus, James Sewell Ballet, TU Dance, Zenon Dance, Aparna Ramaswamy, B-Boy J-Sun, Black Label Movement, MU Daiko, Ballet of the Dolls, and Ethnic Dance Theatre.FMI and tickets. Happy news: the Cowles now houses Mason’s Restaurant and Barre (clever!), open for pre-performance dining and lunch.

Theater Latté Da’s 2013-14 season, the 16th for the award-winning company, includes “Steerage Song,” a fully-staged new musical by founding artistic director Peter Rothstein and Dan Chouinard (Sept. 25-Oct. 20); the return of “All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914,” created by Rothstein in 2007 and now a Twin Cities holiday classic, featuring the vocal ensemble Cantus (Dec. 19-22); the Tony-winning musical “Cabaret,” as envisioned by Rothstein (Jan. 15-Feb. 9, 2014); a new take on Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” with live music and a multicultural cast (March 12-April 6); and “NEXT: New Musicals in the Making” during the spring of 2014. FMI and season tickets.

nigeria head
Courtesy of the MIA
Nigeria, Shrine Head, 12th-14th century, terracotta, The John
R. Van Derlip Fund 95.84

The African Art Galleries at the Minneapolis Institute are closed for extensive renovations. When they reopen Nov. 10, they will look very different. Curator Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers sought input from community members on how to place the objects in the collection “within the full context of the diaspora they resulted from and contributed to.” The new galleries will include a large interactive map, interactive labels with videos, and an open layout that encourages visitors to create their own pathways through the 4,800-square-foot space, discovering cross-cultural dialogues and experiencing the works in depth. Objects will be classified by their own logic and aesthetics, rather than by chronology, geography or medium – the traditional Western systems. A few items from the MIA’s extensive collection of African art have been moved to the halls outside the galleries. But you’ll have to wait until November to see the Shrine Head, a favorite, in person.

Now playing in the Guthrie’s intimate Dowling Studio, “An Iliad” has been extended for three more nights, through June 1. Adapted from the Robert Fagles translation of Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan War, the play by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare features only one actor, Stephen Yoakam, who commands our entire attention from the moment he steps out of the elevator onto the stage. This is one of the best things we’ve seen so far this year. FMI and tickets.

It’s really, really over at the College of Visual Arts. On Saturday, June 1, the school will hold an open-to-the-public “Asset Sale” at all locations: the Summit Building (344 Summit Ave., St. Paul), Western Building (173 Western Ave. N.), and Dayton Building (394 Dayton Ave.). The sale will include furniture, computers, books, classroom and studio equipment, and miscellaneous technology. 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Cash and credit cards only, no checks.

Our picks for the weekend

Tonight, tomorrow, or whenever through Sept. 8: Artist-Designed Mini Golf at the Walker. The two eight-hole courses were conceived by architects, artists, engineers, machinists, and mini-golf aficionados. The layouts include gopher holes, contours mapped from the course at the Augusta National Golf Club, a scale model of a French chateau, an oversized watering can, and garden gnomes. Thursdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Sundays-Wednesdays, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. ($12/$10/$9). Every ticket includes free gallery admission. New this summer: the Dog House, home to hot dogs on soft pretzel buns, gelato pops and cold beer.

foosball hole
Courtesy of the Walker Art Center
A foosball themed hole at the Walker's mini-golf course.

Tonight at Studio Z: “Life’s a Picnic: Music by 2012 McKnight Composer Fellow Viv Corringham.” A British vocalist, composer and sound artist currently based in Minneapolis, Corringham sounds like no one we have ever heard. Her singing is wordless and fearless, sometimes a caress, sometimes a full-on assault. She ends her McKnight Fellowship year with Heather Barringer (percussion), Nick Gaudette (bass), James Holdman (guitar), Michelle Kinney (cello), and Pat O’Keefe (clarinet) in an evening of experimental music and improvised soundscapes. For the adventuresome and the big-eared. 7:30 p.m., 275 East Fourth Street, Suite 200, St. Paul. FMI and tickets ($10).

nichols photo
Photo by John Whiting
Bryan Nichols

Tonight and tomorrow at the Artists’ Quarter: Bryan Nichols Quintet. One of the Twin Cities’ finest, most imaginative pianists, Nichols rarely gets the chance to perform with his quintet because everyone in it is a first-call dude. They’ll play songs from their debut CD, “Bright Places” (2011), and new music composed by Nichols since then. “We’ll probably throw in a couple of the [Keith] Jarrett American Quartet songs as well,” Nichols told us yesterday. With Michael Lewis and Brandon Wozniak on saxophones, James Buckley on bass, and JT Bates on drums. 9 p.m., 408 St. Peter St., St. Paul (in the basement of the Hamm Building), $12 at the door.

Saturday through Monday: Opening weekend at Historic Fort Snelling. Explore the historic buildings, visit with costumed interpreters, and learn about life in early Minnesota. On Memorial Day, you can travel through the past with a living timeline of military life on this special day honoring America’s soldiers. Watch costumed staff and re-enactors interpret different eras of military history; see large-scale military demonstrations. Cannons and muskets will be fired on all days. Saturday and Monday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. 200 Tower Ave., St. Paul. FMI. Tickets at the site ($11-$6; free for children 5 and under and MHS members).

Saturday at Icehouse: Bill Baird with Strange Relations. The first concert in a new series presented by the Cedar at the Eat Street restaurant and venue that happens to be one of our favorite places. Psych folk, alt folk, experimental. 11 p.m., 2528 Nicollet Ave. Tickets here or at the door ($6). Go here for a list of future Cedar-at-Icehouse events and reasons why the Cedar picked the place.

Sunday night on your own teevee: “Asian Flavors: Changing the Tastes of Minnesota since 1875.” Some of us remember when the only Asian food in the Twin Cities was gray, gloppy Chinese chow mein. Coproduced by the Minnesota Historical Society Press and tpt, based on the book by Phyllis Louise Harris with Raghavan Iyer, narrated by Iyer, this 30-minute documentary features interviews and profiles with Supenn Harrison (Sawatdee), Reiko Weston (Fuji Ya), Ann Kim (Pizzeria Lola), and Thom Pham (Azia, etc.). Iyer is the author of “The Turmeric Trail” and the absolutely splendid “660 Curries;” he “culineered” the short-lived OM Contemporary Indian Cuisine restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. The documentary airs on tptMN at 7 p.m. Sunday and also at 1 a.m., 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. June 2.

Coens' new film takes Cannes Grand Prize; Children's Festival starts

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The Coen Brothers took the Grand Prize (actually second prize, after the Palme d’Or) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival on Sunday for “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the story of an early 1960s folk singer in New York. The Atlantic called it “‘Fargo’-level good,” about the highest praise there is. John Goodman is in it (yay!). Frances McDormand is not (boo!). And there’s a cat. Here’s the “official teaser trailer.” It’s out in the U.S. on Dec. 20, which seems like a very long time from now.  

Friends, family, admirers and a lot of musicians filled the Basilica for concert promoter Sue McLean’s funeral on Friday. “In the 17 years I served this church, I never saw a crowd like this,” said former pastor Michael O’Connell in his homily. “What a testament to Sue.” O’Connell credited “the Queen of Clubs” with saving the Basilica Block Party and boosting the Basilica’s membership. Since McLean became involved with the Block Party in 1997, the Basilica has grown from 1,500 households to 6,000, including many young people. “If it takes beer and rock and roll to bring people to God, so be it,” O’Connell quipped. Outside stood the big sign for this year’s Block Party, her work, already sold out; up the street, the State Theater marquis said simply, “THANK YOU SUE MCLEAN.”

The Flint Hills International Children’s Festival starts today in St. Paul. Presented by the Ordway for nearly a decade and a half, this arts-based festival features local, national, and international artists, magicians, balloon artists, face painters, art-making activities, and food vendors. Indoor shows are just $5/ticket. Outdoor performances, activities, and exhibits are free. FMI, tickets, and free Metro Transit passes here.

star keeper puppet show
Courtesy of the Ordway
Théâtre de l’OEil's "The Star Keeper" is part of the Flint Hills International Children’s Festival.

The Duluth Superior Film Festival opens tomorrow at Clyde Iron Works with a screening of “The Last Gladiators,” a documentary about hockey enforcers directed by Oscar nominee Alex Givney. In attendance: former NHL players Mike Peluso, Dave Richter, Jon Rohloff, Bob Paradise and Tom Reid, who will introduce the film. Other festival highlights include “Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show” on Saturday, a live performance by Glover followed by a Q&A and book signing; an “Iron Will” reunion screening and reception with star MacKenzie Astin; “Meeting Charlie Parr,” the first documentary about the celebrated folk singer; “The Price of Sand,” a one-hour docu about frac sand mining; “Venus of Mars,” with Venus DeMars, Lynette Reini-Grandell, and director Emily Goldberg present; and several films made in the Arrowhead. FMI and tickets. The All-Access Pass ($30) is a bargain.

sand mountains
Courtesy of Nice Pictures
“The Price of Sand” is a one-hour documentary about frac sand mining.

Love the Brave New Workshop? New to BNW? Either way, the 2013 fall show sounds like a sure thing. “Attack of the Best of the Brave New Workshop” is a greatest hits/fan favorites revue of sketches from recent years. The cast includes BNW regulars Lauren Anderson, Andy Hilbrands, Taj Ruler, Matt Erkel and Tom Reed. Caleb McEwen directs. Founded by Dudley Riggs in 1958, this is BNW’s 55th anniversary year; “Attack” is its 281st comedy review. Opens July 5, closes Nov. 2. FMI and tickets ($30/$25).

For musicians, fans, and local industry types who like to plan ahead a little: The second annual MN Music Summit returns to St. Paul June 6-8. Starting with a social hour at Summit Brewery on Thursday, the three-day event includes workshops on funding and publicity; a crash course in publicity and radio promotions by Ellen Stanley, the new executive director of the Minnesota Music Coalition; mentoring sessions; and live concerts by Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps, Duluth bluesman Charlie Parr, Bomba de Luz, and others, all free and open to the public. Downtown St. Paul. FMI.

Dancer, poet, and author Lightsey Darst is spending two weeks in the Walker Art Center’s resource library, and you can read about it here. Darst is the first participant in the Writers and Readers Library Residency Program just launched by Coffee House Press. The program was inspired by the Library as Incubator Project, which aims to inspire people to engage with their local libraries in new and meaningful ways and encourage artists and others to think about libraries as creative spaces. Writers-in-residence are expected to blog and create new work. Future residencies are scheduled for the American Craft Council, Midway Contemporary Art Library, and Minnesota Historical Society. On Thursday, June 20, at 7 p.m. in the Walker’s Lecture Room, Darst will present her work and discuss the experience. In Spring 2014, Coffee House will publish a book of essays, images and other resources with the Library as Incubator Project titled “The Artist’s Library: A Field Guide from the Library as Incubator Project.”

The Cedar’s “African Summer” series starts in June, and you might want to get your tickets now. We’re surprised to see that tickets are still available to Femi Kuti (June 26), Amadou & Mariam (June 28) and Vieux Farka Touré (July 9). Amadou & Mariam and Vieux Farka Touré (son of Ali Farka Touré) are all from Mali, the country in west Africa where music has been silenced by Islamist rebels affiliated with al-Qaida. FMI and tickets.

Mu Performing Arts has announced its 2013-14 season, the first under incoming artistic director Randy Reyes. The season includes the world premiere of “Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals,” with martial-arts battles and a hip-hop score (Oct. 12-27); “A Very Asian X-mas Concert,” the company’s popular holiday cabaret, this year at the Southern (Nov. 30 – Dec. 1); “Rhythm in Motion: Mu Daiko at the Cowles Center,” combining dance with Japanese drums (March 7-9, 2014); “Starry River of the Sky” by Jeannine Coulombe, based on the book by Grace Lin (“Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”), a collaboration with Stages Theater Company co-directed by Rick Shiomi and Sandy Boren Barrett (April 25 – May 18); and an Asian-American production of Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” at Park Square, directed by Shiomi and starring Reyes as Fredrik Egerman (July 25-Aug. 10). Season subscriptions are currently on sale; call 651-789-1012.

Our picks for the week

Today through Thursday: State Capitol LEGO Model Display. We love LEGOs. (Did you know that you can now buy LEGOs sets for Frank Lloyd Wright buildings?) LEGO ambassador Roy Cook used more than 75,000 bricks (and 150 hours out of his life) to build a monumental, detailed model of the Minnesota State Capitol: six feet long, four feet wide, three feet high. See it in the Capitol building and as long as you’re there, take a guided tour. 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul. Free. Can't see it this week? It's back starting in July, including weekends. FMI.

percy photo
benjaminpercy.com
Benjamin Percy

Wednesday: Club Book with Benjamin Percy. Award-winning author Percy writes literary page-turners – psychological thrillers, horror fiction, books about werewolves and men lost in the woods (too bad for them). His books so far include “The Wilding,” “Refresh, Refresh,” “The Language of Elk” and “Red Moon.” He also writes nonfiction for Esquire, Time, GQ, and the Wall Street Journal. Percy comes to the Southdale Library to read and sign books – mmmmm, summer reading. 7001 York Ave. S., Edina. 7-8:30 p.m. Free.

Wednesday: Maud Hixson releases her new CD, “Don’t Let a Good Thing Get Away.” She writes in the liner notes: “I’ve always been drawn to great pairings of words and music – the kind that sound inevitable and conversational – and it has become my business to find these songs and sing them.” Hixson does her homework and delivers something special and rare: a whole album of songs composed by Mickey Leonard ("The Yearling") including four premiere recordings. Leonard’s lyricists could turn a phrase, and Hixson has the impeccable diction most singers only dream of; it’s as if her voice has perfect penmanship. Her sound is clear, wide-open, and as cool as satin sheets. She can swing, sing a love song, and tell the story each song holds: of desire, allure, empty-headed hubris, nostalgia, regret, lessons learned. Hixson recorded the CD in New York with New York musicians; she’ll perform here with top cats Rick Carlson, Gordy Johnson and Phil Hey. 7 p.m. at the Dakota. $7.

Thursday: John Diers presents his book “St. Paul Union Depot.” Author John Diers loves trolleys, trains and transportation in general. As the grand old Union Depot begins its second life, Diers tells the story of its first. MinnPost’s Amy Goetzman spoke with him earlier this month. He’s at SubText: a Bookstore at 7 p.m.

Thursday-Saturday: acclaimed soprano Dawn Upshaw ends her six-season tenure as an artistic partner of the SPCO this week with three neighborhood concerts. She leaves an impressive list of accomplishments: working with the SPCO to commission four new works and two new arrangements, performing twice at Carnegie Hall with the SPCO, recording Maria Schneider’s “Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories” with Schneider and the SPCO. For her final concerts with the SPCO, Upshaw will bring her warm voice and graceful musicality to Ravel’s “Chansons madécasses” and Crumb’s “Night of the Four Moons.” The program also includes Haydn’s “Le matin” and Mozart’s “Linz.” 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Stillwater, 8 p.m. Friday at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, 9 p.m. Saturday at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ. Tickets here.

Curious, we checked the SPCO’s 2012-13 concert schedule brochure, which we held onto during the lockout. Upshaw was originally set to perform the Crumb and a world premiere work (and SPCO commission) by very young American composer Shawn Jaeger. Apparently that was scratched. And the Composer Conversation with Jaeger that was supposed to take place tomorrow at 7 p.m. at MPR has been canceled. (Just in case you still had it on your G-cal, as some of us did.) We really liked the Composer Conversation Series, new last year, co-presented by the SPCO, MPR, and the American Composers Forum, which got off to a good start B.L. (Before Lockout) with Maria Schneider and Laurie Anderson. Are there any plans to bring it back? We’ll find out.

McKnight Fellows named; arts fairs in Edina, St. Paul

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Muezzin
Courtesy of the Walker Art Center
Mohamud Mumin
Muezzin at Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Inkjet, 2012

The 2013-14 McKnight Artist Fellowships for photographers, dancers and choreographers, and media arts have been announced. Photography fellows are Anthony MarchettiPaula McCartney, and Mohamud Mumin of Minneapolis and Alec Soth of St. Paul. Fellowships for Dancers go to Kari MoselTamara Ober and Gregory Waletski (who recently gave his final performances with Zenon). Choreography fellows are HIJACK (Kristin Van Loon and Arwen Wilder)Emily Johnson, and Karen Sherman. The 2013-14 Media Artist Fellows are filmmakers Todd Cobery and Susan Marks and radio producer Todd Melby. Each receives an unrestricted $25,000 award.

What do McKnight Fellows do with their time and money? Stretch out, create, and when their fellowship year ends, share with the rest of us. From June 14-July 14, MCAD will present an exhibition of new work by Jim Denomie of Shafer, MN, and Chris Larson, Ruben Nusz, and Natasha Pestich of the Twin Cities, all recipients of the 2012-13 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Visual Arts. Open reception Friday, June 14, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Ever the provocateur, the Daily Planet’s Jay Gabler poses the question, “Minnesota Orchestra on the rocks: What – if anything – should be done?” A somewhat milder follow-up to his earlier piece on The Tangential blog, “Does It Matter That No One Gives a S--- About Classical Music Anymore?” it reminds those of us who need reminding that the Minnesota Orchestra is “now poised to enter year two of its hiatus due to a labor dispute.” Are we indifferent to the orchestra’s fate? Do New Yorkers like Alex Ross and James Oestreich care more about our orchestra than we do? Is there no one in the Twin Cities or on the planet who can persuade both sides to start talking and help them do it? Or will we have a shiny new Orchestra Hall but no orchestra? July, when the new hall is scheduled to reopen (that’s this July), is fast approaching. Tonight’s “Catch Them While You Can” concert at St. John’s Episcopal Church, featuring departing musicians Burt Hara, Gina DeBello, Pitnarry Shin, and Tom Turner, has sold out. A small number of seats may be available at the door due to no-shows.

The OUT Twin Cities Film Festival is under way at the St. Anthony Main Theatre. Tonight’s theme: Ladies’ Night Out! Tomorrow: Boys’ Night Out! Sunday (closing day): A Divine Sunday. Tonight’s opening film, “Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines” aired recently on public television’s Independent Lens and it’s terrific. Sunday’s program includes a fundraiser for the Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide among LGBTQ youth. FMI and tickets.

wonder women
Courtesy of Vaquera Films
Friday night at the OUT Twin Cities Film Festival opens with "Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines.”

United Theological Seminary is launching a multi-year conversation about LGBTIQ (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/intersex/questioning) in the church. On Friday, June 21, “Out in Gospel – Opening a Sacred Door” will spotlight LGBTIQ gospel musicians with an afternoon program featuring keynote speaker Bishop Yvette Flunder and an evening concert by “out” national recording artists Flunder, Riz Timané and Ray Boltz, with friends and allies The Steeles. Both events are free and open to the public, but registration is required online or by calling 651-255-6138. FMI.

Tickets are on sale now for the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus Pride weekend concert, “We Are Family: The Anthems of Our Community.” Forty-four years after Stonewall, TCGMC honors the past, celebrates the Freedom to Marry, and performs a program of spirituals, favorites of the GALA Chorus movement, and anthems. Friday-Saturday, June 28-29 at the Ted Mann. FMI and tickets.

The Big Gay Race 5K will return for its third year on Sept. 28. Since last year’s race, Minnesota defeated the Marriage Amendment and passed the Freedom to Marry act. So this year’s Big Gay Race should be bigger and more festive than ever. The scenic route begins on Main Street under the Central Ave. Bridge, continues down historic St. Anthony Main Street, crosses the Stone Arch Bridge, runs up West River Parkway, doubles back to re-cross the Stone Arch Bridge and ends in Father Hennepin Park. FMI and registration.  

The Dakota Valley Symphony has announced its 2013-14 season of concerts at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center. Sunday, Oct. 13: “Afternoon at Pops: Latin Rhapsody.” Sunday, Dec. 8: “Handel’s Messiah.” (Two performances; one is a sing-along.) Sunday, Feb. 9, 2014: “Four Choirs Festival.” Sunday, March 16: “The Feeling in Baroque Music.” Sunday, April 27: “Orchestra Festival with Young Artists.” Tickets at the BPAC box office or Ticketmaster.

From now through Labor Day, active duty military personnel and their families have free admission to many museums across the country, thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and the museums themselves. In the Twin Cities, they include the American Swedish Institute, Bell Museum, Weisman, Hennepin History Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Minnesota Children’s Museum and the Walker. For a list of all participating museums in the state, go here and click on Minnesota.

The Minnesota History Center, which is not a Blue Star Museum (and why not?), has unveiled its annual Nine Nights of Music series of free outdoor concerts, now in its 16th year. All concerts take place on Tuesdays; most start at 6:30 p.m. July 2: Music of the Civil War and Tribute to the Fallen with Century Brass Band. (This night starts at 5:30 and concludes with a brief memorial service at 8:30.) July 9: Mi Tierra (mariachi). July 16: Rockin’ Rondo Quartet with T. Mychael Rambo and Friends. July 23: Capri Big Band. July 30: Greg Herriges and Telluric Current (East Indian Bollywood and beyond). Aug. 6: Klezmeric (Jewish jazz). Aug. 13: Petticoat Rustlers (old-time Appalachian). Aug. 20: Orkestar Bez Ime (Balkan party music). Aug. 27: Tango Pohjan Tahden (Finnish tango). FMI. Free. 

This year’s State Fair free entertainment line-up is more than 900 shows long, with music, magicians, trampoline shows, and a lumberjack show (?) happening all over the grounds. The Leinie Lodge Bandshell Tonight! series is a big winner, with Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, Sheila E., and Blue Öyster Cult all scheduled to appear. We might change the name of this column to Ärtscape. The Heritage at Sundown series features Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles, Pert Near Sandstone, Chastity Brown and other crowd-pleasers. Salsa del Soul and the New Primitives will play Bazaar After Dark. Go here for the whole story. Do not miss pedal steel maestro Robert Randolph & The Family Band on Aug. 30-31. Here’s a peek.

Our picks for the weekend

Art Fair season officially begins today with the opening of the 47th annual Edina Art Fair. It’s a big one; some 320 fine artists and crafters will pitch their tents and booths on the curbs of France Avenue, 50th St. and the Lunds parking lot, offering ceramics, jewelry, glass, photography, wood carvings, mixed media, fine art, wearables, sculptures, and more. Avoid parking headaches; take the free shuttle bus from Southdale (by Firestone), get a free Metro Transit pass, or ride your bike and leave it in the bike corral in U.S. Bank’s parking lot. Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

woodcut
Courtesy of the St. Anthony Park Arts Festival
Woodcut by Emily Koehler, part of the St. Anthony Park Arts Festival.

On Saturday only in St. Paul, the smaller, more manageable and relaxed St. Anthony Park Arts Festival has undergone a renaissance. Now in its 44th year, it has taken an artist-centered approach and attracted some exceptional artists. This year features a who’s who of Minnesota potters, including Tom Abel, Bob Briscoe, Guillermo Cuellar, Richard Gruchalla, Chris and Sue Holmquist, Peter Jadoonath, Chuck Solberg, Will Swanson, Jo Severson, and Jason Trebs, along with renowned artists working in other media. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., St. Anthony Park, Como Ave. between Carter Ave. and Luther Place. Sales support the St. Anthony Park Branch Library.

Tonight at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church: the premiere of a new setting of the Magnificat (“My soul doth magnify the Lord”). Last year, the American Composers Forum and Saint Paul’s co-sponsored an international competition to select a composer to write a new setting of the Magnificat text. Zachary Wadsworth of Calgary, Alberta, was selected from a pool of 137 commissions. His vivacious piece will be performed by Saint Paul’s Senior Choir. 7 p.m., 1917 Logan Ave. So. (the northeast tip of Lake of the Isles), Minneapolis. Free. An Immaculate Reception will follow, and childcare will be available.

Tonight and Saturday: Cantus Covers at the Cowles. If you know Cantus of “All is Calm” or their classical or sacred music, you don’t know Cantus. Once each year, the splendid men’s vocal ensemble cuts loose with a program of pop covers and B-sides. Come to hear music by Mumford & Sons, George Gershwin, Chicago, fun., the Beatles, Sly & the Family Stone, the Zombies, and more, beautifully sung with spotless diction. They’re backed by a live band with Lee Blaske on keys, Cory Grossman on cello, Dave Hagedorn on percussion and Tetsuya Takeno on drums. 7:30 p.m. at the Cowles. Can’t make it this weekend? Also Thursday-Friday, June 6-8. FMI and tickets. Cantus fans, you’ll want to know that these are among the final concerts for bass Tim Takach, who has been with the group for 17 seasons. He’ll stay on through July.

tu dance photo
Photo by Ingrid Werthmann
This weekend: TU Dance Spring Concert at the O’Shaughnessy

Tonight through Sunday: TU Dance Spring Concert at the O’Shaughnessy. One of the Twin Cities’ most exciting dance companies closes out its ninth season with two world premieres by Uri Sands – “No Middle Name,” a triptych of duets, and “Escapades,” a full-company work – and a new solo work from New York choreographer Camille A. Brown, “Make Amends,” commissioned by the O’Shaughnessy. Also on the program: Dwight Rhoden’s “B Sessions,” set to the music of Beethoven. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. FMI and tickets.

Saturday: the 2013 Pinewood Derby Championship at the Mall of America. What can we say? When your son is a former scout and your spouse a former scout leader, you have to love the Pinewood Derby. Wearing blue uniforms and bright neckerchiefs, more than 300 cub scouts from 21 Minnesota counties and western Wisconsin will gather in the Rotunda to send their handcrafted cars down 60 feet of track in a 60-year-old tradition of making little blocks of wood go really fast. 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Liquid Music's new season: a fearless push of the restart button

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Fans of new music were thrilled when Kate Nordstrum was hired by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. The organization seemed like a good home for the kind of adventurous programming she pioneered at the Southern before it was toppled by financial woes. The SPCO wanted to broaden its audience, experiment with new formats, and build relationships with up-and-coming composers. Nordstrum created a new series, named it Liquid Music, and planned the first season, which began with a bang in November 2012 with two sold-out performances by composer/musician/performance artist Laurie Anderson.

And then came the lockout. Liquid Music events involving SPCO musicians were canceled or rescheduled. Ticketholders who arrived at the Hamm Building for the remaining concerts were met by musicians and members of Save Our SPCO, who handed out leaflets titled “Liquidation Music.” What would have been the Minnesota premiere of a new work by Sarah Kirkland Snider hit a huge snag when members of yMusic, the New York-based instrumental ensemble, were warned by their union not to play. If they did, they would face expulsion and fines of up to $50,000. Most musicians didn’t learn this until they landed in Minnesota. This might have been the lowest point of a series that could have shriveled and died.

“It’s been a hard year to navigate,” Nordstrum admits. “But I’m incredibly proud of the projects that happened. I tried to do right by everyone – artists, funders, partners, ticket buyers, and management – but there was a lot of complication last year.” Now that the lockout has ended, she says, “I couldn’t be more excited to be working during a season where the musicians of the SPCO are back in the building. I feel optimistic, with a sense of starting over.”

Announced late last week, the 2013-14 Liquid Music season is strong, varied, and provocative. We’ll tell you more in a moment. But first, the answers to two questions we heard people ask at this year’s Liquid Music shows: 1) If the SPCO had to cut its own musicians’ salaries to stay afloat, how could it fund a new-music series? 2) When the Minnesota Orchestra locked out its musicians, it canceled everything including jazz concerts, Bill Cosby, and other events that did not involve its musicians. Why did the SPCO continue Liquid Music during its lockout?

Nordstrum took the first question. “All of the money for Liquid Music is brought in specifically for this series. Nothing comes from the SPCO in terms of overhead.” The series has its own grantors, sponsors and partners, including the Augustine Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Saint Paul STAR program. Traditional SPCO donors are off-limits. For the second question, we turned to Dobson West, interim SPCO president and board chair. “It was a difficult decision in a difficult time, but we felt that moving ahead with the series was important to do,” he said. “We felt it was helpful to our mission in terms of expanding the audience base and testing the boundaries of classical music. We also moved forward with our CONNECT educational program and continued to offer our [online] listening library.”

This year's Liquid Music season is a fearless push of the restart button. Ten widely divergent events include co-presentations with the Walker, the Schubert Club, the Amsterdam and the American Composers Forum, three projects featuring SPCO musicians, and a recording inspired by the work of visual artist Jim Hodges. Concerts will be held at the SPCO Center, the Fitz, the Walker, the Amsterdam and Aria in Minneapolis. Sept. 22: Zola Jesus in collaboration with former SPCO artistic partner Stephen Prutsman; percussion and cello duo Ian Ding and Ashley Bathgate. Oct. 18: Seattle composer Jherek Bischoff with an all-star cast of guest vocalists and instrumentalists. Nov. 5: Ensemble Dal Niente. Nov. 16: Electronic experimentalists Oneohtrix Point Never and Tim Hecker.  Jan. 12, 2014: Violinist Hilary Hahn and Hauschka (German pianist/composer Volker Bertelmann). Feb. 13: Olga Bell with Tom Vek and Angel Deradoorian. Feb. 14-May 11 (in the Walker galleries): recorded music by the trio of rapper Serengeti, composer/producer Son Lux and singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens. March 21-22: Timo Andres: "Work Songs" with Gabriel Kahane, Becca Stevens, and others. May 6: Daniel Bjarnason and Nadia Sirota. June 3: the "post-classical" string quartet ETHEL and "Documerica," a multimedia meditation on today’s environmental and social issues featuring music by Twin Cities composer Mary Ellen Childs. (The newest member of ETHEL is Twin Cities' violinist Kip Jones.)  FMI and tickets.

Back when the Schubert Club's artistic and executive director Barry Kempton told MinnPost he was taking that organization in new directions, he alluded to “younger audiences” and “a less formal ambience.” Also announced late last week: Schubert Club Mix, a new contemporary classical music series that will take place at Aria. Two of the three events in the debut season (Hilary Hahn and Hauscha, ETHEL: Documerica) are collaborations with Liquid Music. The third is something we’ve been hoping would come to the Twin Cities. On April 13, 2014, Mix will present Anthony de Mare’s critically acclaimed “Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano,” with newly composed solo piano pieces based on songs by Sondheim. Composers include Mary Ellen Childs, jazz pianist Fred Hersch, film composer Thomas Newman and minimalist Steve Reich. FMI and tickets.

***

On Friday, a sold-out, tightly packed audience at St. John’s Episcopal Church heard yet another poignant concert by the locked-out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra: an evening of chamber music performed by 14 musicians, four of whom are leaving soon for positions elsewhere. A glittering Brandenburg No. 6, with departing violist Tom Turner and cellist Pitnarry Shin, preceded Marc Mellits’ String Quartert No. 3: Tapas, a challenging modern work the musicians started learning just two weeks ago at the urging of departing violinist Gina DiBello, who knows the composer. After the intermission, departing principal clarinetist Burt Hara soared in Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major. Does anyone have a more heartfelt and exquisite tone? Hara and cellist Tony Ross are members of the small south Minneapolis church. “Our silver lining is you,” Ross told the crowd before the Mozart. “The fabric of our orchestra is unraveling at an alarming pace.” During the lockout, the orchestra’s complement has fallen to 74 musicians, down from 98. (The Orchestra is disputing these numbers; we're checking them out and will report back when we learn more.) For a more detailed account of the evening, and more photos, go here.

musicians of the minnesota orchestra
MinnPost photo by John Whiting
The locked-out musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra played a sold-out concert at John’s Episcopal Church.

Following up on a few earlier items: We erroneously reported earlier that the Basilica Block Party was sold out. It’s not, but tickets prices have gone up … Erin Krakow (“Army Wives”) will play Miss Elizabeth Bennett opposite Vincent Kartheiser’s (“Mad Men”) Mr. Darcy in the Guthrie’s “Pride and Prejudice” this summer. Guthrie, are you going all Hollywood on us? If so, we wouldn’t mind seeing Henry Cavill (“The Tudors,” “Man of Steel”) on one of your three stages, or Mamie Gummer … The new FX series based on the Coen Bros.’ “Fargo” will be filmed in Alberta or Manitoba, not Minnesota or North Dakota. As reported by RadioTimes: “unlike Minnesota, Canada now offers tax incentives to attract foreign film and television productions.” 

Wait! Update! Starting July 1, Minnesota has $10 million to entice filmmakers to come here. The newly revitalized and far more robust Snowbate program, which offers incentives to qualified feature films, TV series, documentaries and commercials that locate production or post-production in Minnesota, was part of the omnibus jobs, economic development and housing bill signed by Gov. Mark Dayton on May 23. Yesterday we were the least competitive state for filmmaking; today we’re in the top 15. Note to FX: The heck do ya mean, Canada?

writers map

Stop by your local library for a copy of “From Main Street to Your Street: Minnesota Writers on the Map.” Produced by the Minnesota Historical Society, the Minnesota Book Awards, and Explore Minnesota, funded by Legacy money, this new literary map of our state features more than 100 writers, past and present, who have made significant contributions to our literary legacy. The map will move online sometime this month. We’ll post the link when we know it.

Do you think you’re funny? Funny enough to write a sitcom? Founded by Minnesota comic Scott Hansen and SNL’s Bo Kaprall, the First Annual Upper Midwest Sitcom Writing Competition may be your ticket to fame, glory, and hanging out with Tina Fey. The top three finalists receive a cash prize and a full-table read of their scripts. The winner’s script will be read by development execs at 20th Century Fox and 821 Productions. Packages range from send-a-script to a four-hour workshop ($59-$249). FMI and tickets.

Springboard for the Arts will commission three Lowertown/downtown St. Paul artists to create high-quality, easily reproducible B&W artwork picturing Lowertown. Throughout 2013, these “Lowertown Sketchbook” pieces will be reproduced on drink coasters available in Lowertown watering holes and other locations. Selected artists will receive a $200 stipend, plus their website/email will appear on the coasters. The submission deadline is Friday, June 14. FMI and submission form.

Susanna Schouweiler, mnartists.org editor, wrote on Facebook: “Finally! MN public TV is venturing beyond kids and old folks to draw younger, web-savvy audiences.” Read her piece for KnightArts on tpt’s new Open Air initiative, a smart combination of original web-only and broadcast material and live events. Now if only we could see some new stuff during pledge week. “Celtic Thunder” makes us want to throw rocks through windows.

Our picks for the week

Tonight at Bloomington’s Normandale Lake Bandshell: “Welcome Summer!” A free concert of festive music by the 90-piece band Minnesota Symphonic Winds. The program includes Berlioz’s “Hungarian March,” “Sundance” by contemporary American composer Frank Ticheli, folk tunes, Broadway hits, and “Minnesota Portraits” by Minneapolis Southwest High School alum Carl Schroeder, with musical depictions of Fort Snelling, sunrise at Lake Calhoun, and the Mississippi River. Bring blankets, lawn chairs, picnics, maybe a down comforter, depending on the weather. 7 p.m. at the intersection of 84th St. and Chalet Road in Bloomington.

Opens tonight at the Plymouth Playhouse: “The Geriatrical Theatrical: Celebrating the Chronologically Enriched.” A new musical about aging by playwright John Fenn and composer Drew Jansen, directed by Bain Boehlke and starring real-life husband-and-wife Richard Ooms and Claudia Wilkens. Through July 28. We just checked; tonight is sold out. FMI and tickets ($30/$27/$15).

axe giant banner

Tomorrow at the Trylon: “Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan.” We Midwesterners think of Paul Bunyan as a kindly, king-sized folk hero. Director Gary Jones ("Spiders,""Mosquitos") takes a different view of the big man with the axe. The story: Bratty young adults sentenced to a first-time offenders' boot camp meet Bunyan in the woods, and he's still super mad about something that happened ages ago that ended badly for a bunch of loggers. The perfect summer horror flick for Minnesotans stars B-movie stalwarts Joe Estevez ("San Franpsycho,""Beach Babes from Beyond") and Dan Haggerty (“Grizzly Adams”) along with fresh meat, um, faces. Lizzie Borden would love this. Co-presented by the Minneapolis Beard and Moustache Club. FMI and tickets. 7 p.m., 3258 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis. On June 7, the film hacks its way to the Zinema in Duluth, where it stays through June 13.

Thursday at the Southern: “Trick Boxing.” Megan McClellan and Brian Sostek are donating several performances of their family-friendly physical comedy to the Southern as a benefit. The tale of a hapless apple seller, the former Fringe hit has played to audiences around the world; last year it had a run at the Guthrie. Rapid-fire dialogue, Fred-and-Ginger-style dancing, and puppets. Make a reservation, see it for free, then pay whatever you think it was worth. 7:30 p.m.Through June 8. FMI and reservations.

Thursday at Al’s Breakfast in Dinkytown: Dinner with Ragamala. The company’s annual fundraiser features an authentic veggie-friendly south-Indian dinner cooked by co-artistic director Ranee Ramaswamy and the rest of Ragamala. Dine in or take out (call in your take-out order at 612-331-9991). 5:30 – 8:30 p.m., 413 14th Ave. SE, Dinkytown. Minimum donation $12/plate.

Closes Sunday, June 9, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: “More Real? Art in the Age of Truthiness.” We humbly suggest that you don’t miss this groundbreaking, thought-provoking and thoroughly modern exhibition of works by 28 artists. Here’s what we wrote when we saw it in MarchFMI and tickets.

This Saturday, June 8, is Northern Sparkthe all-night celebration of art and community that begins at sundown (8:58 p.m.) in Lowertown. Get some sleep.

Wendy Lehr on her McKnight award; major cast change for 'P&P' at Guthrie

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lehr photo
Courtesy of the McKnight Foundation
Wendy Lehr

What does Wendy Lehr have in common with Dominick Argento, Robert Bly, Lou Bellamy, Ranee Ramaswamy and 11 other notable Minnesotans?  She’s now a McKnight Distinguished Artist. Presented each year for the past 16, the Distinguished Artist Award recognizes individual Minnesotans who have made significant contributions to the quality of the state’s cultural life. After five decades of acting, directing, choreographing and teaching, shaping and participating in countless theaters, and helping to establish the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists (which named its theater after her), Lehr may be overqualified for the honor, which includes $50,000 in cash. It’s Minnesota’s largest arts award given for past accomplishments.

She has also won the  Twin Cities Drama Critics Award, the Sally Irvine award for commitment to the arts (2008), and the IVEY Award for Lifetime Achievement (2010).

Earlier this week, we offered our congratulations and asked how she felt about her McKnight. “It’s jaw-dropping!” Lehr said. “I’m still in the pinch-me phase. It’s sort of like being rewarded for staying in town.” Looking back on her career, she remembered “the constant body of work that kept evolving” – and always saying yes to things. “I’ve said yes to some things where I’ve wound up on a plane on the way to Budapest. You hurl yourself into the melee.” She recalled her first “aha” experience: walking into a “tiny gem” of a theater in Webster Grove High School in St. Louis, where she was a student. “Maybe it was the smell of the greasepaint, but it was perfect. Undeniable. It flowed into my imagination.”

Lehr admitted to being “grateful that at this point in my life I don’t have to work all the time,” but currently she’s serving as choreographer for “The Geriatrical Theatrical” at the Plymouth Playhouse, directed by her old friend Bain Boehlke. “This is the first time I’ve sat next to Bain on that side of the table,” she said. “You get such a different perspective on his process.” Soon she’ll be back at the Jungle in “Driving Miss Daisy,” where Boehlke will direct. The two have collaborated since the early 1960s.

Does Lehr have plans for her award? “We all have to be circumspect about our entertainment dollars,” she said. “This will afford me the luxury of going to see what I want to see, maybe even twice, instead of rushing or begging for comps. We’ll go to the theater because we love to support our friends. And music, and musical theater. We love movies. We might travel. I’m sure I’ll spend it 500 times before I put a dime down.” 

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Ashley Rose Montondo
Courtesy of the Guthrie
Ashley Rose Montondo

Erin Krakow (“Army Wives”) will not play the role of Miss Elizabeth Bennet in the Guthrie’s “Pride and Prejudice,” opening July 12. Ashley Rose Montondo, a 2011 graduate of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program, will wear the bonnets and Empire waists. The Guthrie’s press release referred simply to Krakow’s “sudden departure.” Say what? “She got another job,” the Guthrie’s Quinton Skinner told MinnPost. “That’s basically what happened.” For Krakow’s sake, let's hope it’s a really great job, because leaving the Guthrie holding the bag just 24 hours before the first rehearsal is not the world’s smartest career move. Meanwhile, Montondo gave a reading and “knocked it out of the park. Joe [Dowling] is really psyched.” This could be the start of something big for Montondo, who will play opposite Vincent Kartheiser (“Mad Men”) as romantic hero Mr. Darcy. It’s a classic scenario: a star departs for whatever reason, a young unknown in the wings gets a break. Now we’re even more pumped about “P&P.”

In other Guthrie news, Danielle St. Germain-Gordon has been appointed as the theater’s new director of development. She comes to the Guthrie from Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., where she served as chief development officer. Before then, she was vice president for institutional advancement at the American Alliance of Museums, also in D.C., and associate director of development for the city’s Shakespeare Theatre Company. St. Germain-Gordon takes over for Dianne Brennan, who resigned in December after 15 years. 

japanese art
Courtesy of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts
"Four Elegant Pastimes" by Shibata Zeshin. 19th cent., second half. Six-panel screen pair; ink and color on gold leaf, each 152.2 (H) x 356.6 (W) cm. Clark Family Collection

Overnight, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts has become one of the top five centers for Japanese art in the U.S., alongside the Smithsonian and the Met. MIA has received a major gift of Japanese art from California collectors Willard and Elizabeth Clark and the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford, Calif. Part gift, part purchase, the collection of nearly 1,700 objects spans 10 centuries, has an estimated value of more than $25 million and will increase the museum’s Japanese art collection by a third. MIA now devotes 15 galleries to Japanese art. As Mary Abbe reported for the Strib, this significant gift (can we say “jaw-dropping” again, after quoting Wendy Lehr earlier?) has something to do with almonds. According to the Fresno Bee, it’s also about location, location, location. “My heart is in the [San Joaquin] Valley,” Willard Clark told the Bee. “I’m fifth generation. But I have to be realistic. There isn’t enough population in the Valley to support the museum.” Along with the vast collection of paintings, sculptures, woodblock prints, ceramics, bamboo baskets and textiles, MIA also acquires a new curator. Andreas Marks will move here from the Clark Center to head the museum’s Department of Japanese and Korean Art.

art
Courtesy of the Minnesota State Fair
This year’s State Fair artist is Marie Olofsdotter.

We love Minnesota State Fair Commemorative Art. Each year since 2004, a Minnesota artist has captured the magic, merriment and livestock of our great state get-together. This year’s artist is Marie Olofsdotter, also an author, mask-maker, performer, poet and teacher, who moved here from Sweden in 1981 and decided to stay. Her work in acrylic is full of color and flowing lines. It will be on display at the Fine Arts Center throughout the fair. Posters and signed prints are available; sales support the Fair’s buildings, grounds and educational experiences.

Courtesy of Kerlan
Kate DiCamillo

On Saturday at the U of M’s Mondale Hall, Minneapolis-based children’s author Kate DiCamillo will receive the 2013 Kerlan Award, a recognition of her achievements and a thank-you from the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature, to which she has donated many of her manuscripts. If you have kids or are around kids, you probably know that DiCamillo is the author of “Because of Winn-Dixie” (A Newbery Honor book), “The Tale of Despereaux” (a Newbery Medal winner), and six books starring a pig named Mercy Watson. Previous winners include Walter Dean Myers and Jean Craighead George. The public is invited to the award presentation and speech by Camillo; it’s free, but reservations are requested. If you want to stay for lunch, you’ll need to buy a ticket ($30/$20). Here’s a charming bit on the delightful DiCamillo from Minnesota Original.

Back in February, the Minnesota Opera hinted that its new production of “The Magic Flute,” part of its 2013-14 season, would be something special. We now know what that means. “Flute” will be a co-production with LA Opera of an original production by the award-winning British avant-garde theater group 1927. The London-based company creates performances that combine live acting, live music and film animation. Its approach to “Flute” was first produced at Komische Oper Berlin in 2012. So what we’ll see (in our North American premiere) is a wildly colorful, mixed-media Mozart full of surprises. Plus we’ll hear the Queen of the Night. Opens April 12, 2014. Season packages are on sale now; single tickets go on sale July 22.

magic flute
Photo by Iko Freese
A scene from the Berlin production of "The Magic Flute"

Our picks for the weekend

Opens tonight (Friday, June 7) at St. Anthony Main Theatre: “One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das.” If you’ve been to a yoga studio, you’ve heard his voice. This award-winning documentary tells the story of Jeffrey Kagel, the onetime rock singer who today chants the names of God. Here’s the trailer. Through June 13. FMI and tickets.

Saturday along Chicago Avenue from 32nd Street to 42nd Street: Arts on Chicago Celebration. Can art bring four neighborhoods together? Funded in part by a grant from Artplace, 20 art projects have been created along 10 blocks of Chicago Ave. where the Central, Powderhorn, Bancroft and Bryant communities meet. The day-long event features activities, visual art and photography from artists including Wing Young Huie and HOTTEA, and performance tours. FMI. Free.

Saturday at Highpoint Center for Printmaking: Open Portfolio III. More than 60 regional printmakers share their most recent work with the public and guest reviewers from the Walker, the MMAA, the MIA, and other museums and galleries. Many of the prints will be available for purchase. 1:30–7 p.m. FMI.

Saturday at Hamline’s Sundin Music Hall: Bobb Fantauzzo's “A Weaving of Traditions.” Playing Native American flute, Fantauzzo and his group JazZen blends the spirit of his instrument with the essence of jazz. With Lyz Jaakola on traditional Anishinaabe vocals and percussion. 7:30 p.m., 1631 Hewitt Ave., St. Paul. $10 online, $15 at the door.

Saturday at sunset through Sunday at dawn in St. Paul’s Lowertown: Northern Spark. This annual all-night community celebration of the arts is a house on fire, plus 75 more projects featuring 137 artists. Visit the website and plan your night or just show up and wander.

Sunday at McNally Smith: Dan Musselman “Devotion” CD Release. Jazz pianist/composer Musselman draws from books of the Bible and the examples of jazz forebears John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck and John McLaughlin to create music that seeks and inspires. Young Musselman plays the piano really, really well; his compositions are melodic, inviting, and warm. 3 p.m. in the auditorium. Free.

Sunday at the Jungle: Connie Evingson. The jazz chanteuse performs hip, smart, tender songs from her CD, “Little Did I Dream: Songs by Dave Frishberg.” 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. FMI and tickets ($25). Later that week, she’ll make her Lincoln Center debut with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Swinging with the Big Bands,” hosted by Michael Feinstein and accompanied by Wynton Marsalis. 

Sunday-Monday at the Dakota: John Sebastian. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and former member of the Lovin’ Spoonful reminisces and delivers his hits: “Summer in the City,” “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” “Do You Believe in Magic?” These should be mellow evenings. 7 p.m. FMI and tickets ($36).

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